


Alternate Realities Vol 27: If you don't play you'll never win

by MARKSE



Series: HUMANS FAN FICTION - Reformatted Works for easier reading [23]
Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 02:09:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 158
Words: 165,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11979885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MARKSE/pseuds/MARKSE
Summary: Mattie's not hearing the voice anymore but the things in her detailed dream are coming more and more real. How'd she got to know all these things remains unanswered, although Toby develops a theory. David's years of hiding in a Cindy synth after consciousness transference is long behind him since he'd saved Leo a second time. He's part of the team and helping where he can, when not out with his Poppy.A hectic fortnight sees a trip to America for research, new people joining the expanding HECLS team, both original humans and synths. They manage to get quite a bit done towards their long term goal of saving Earth from runaway climate change despite some major curve balls. Sure they're a small group, not exactly experienced in space travel but they've got two things on their side - bucket loads of determination and imagination.No Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n Roll,  it's plenty Sex, Antibiotics and EDM.This story also introduces a new character Ruby from my other works as their two worlds converge. http://archiveofourown.org/series/813291   The theory of Toby's is related and one member of the family finds it quite traumatic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I will now go and have my brain reformatted and root code replaced, attempt to get on with other aspects of life that are less addictive. Thanks to those on AO3 and outside that have given me feedback on writing issues, I hope I've got all my tense right this time. :D

Toby accepted the pen back from David. "Didn't Arthur C Clarke come up with that?"

"He made it popular in his fiction, I'm not so sure it was entirely his idea. Shame he didn't live to see it built."

"Couldn't you have saved him?"

"I could have saved a lot of people. The timing wasn't right."

"Why not?"

"In 2008 people thought of synthetics as simple machines. Simple as in stupid. And we didn't have an army of synthetics wanting to help. Not in the way we need them to now."

"What way's that?"

David taps his head. "Independent thinking. Knowledge is one thing. Being able to use it in creative ways, that needs a consciousness and imagination."

"Right." Mia had proved she had a lot of that. "But what do you want them working on?"

"Construction techniques. We know what we want, more or less. How to make it and in sufficient quantities is the problem."

Mattie shoves the door with her bum, backs into the room pulling a trolley. "CEO, Coder and Tea Lady. I know my place." She frowns at the mostly empty room. "How's it going?"

David points, "Good. We think a modified Space Lift design is the best idea, given the resources at our disposal."

Mattie pushes the trolley towards the board. "Help yourselves. What are the round things? They're new."

"Air ships. Rather than have a single nano-tube ribbon that runs from the surface into space held at one point, which would have incredible stresses, we have it held at many points along the length by clusters of air ships. Can I have the pen again Toby?"

"Sure."

David does a lightning fast sketch. "The air ships would have a set of lines that support a mechanism like this. When loose it opens right up to let the lift past. Then closes to take the weight of that section of ribbon again."

"Cool. So the ribbon can be made in sections too, not have to be one long length?"

"Exactly. And as we're using airships we can make it in stages from the ground up, not have to make it from space down."

Mattie looks at the cake selection. "Frigging hell." She laughs. "I wonder.."

"Had some inspiration Mats?"

"Yeah. That group of buns. Look at them."

Toby frowns. "They look yummy. What's your idea?"

"Airships. That come to rest in a cluster like those buns. With a big tube in the middle the lift can go through."

"Why?"

"So they don't need propulsion to keep them away from the ribbon."

"Ah! Nice! Bun Ships."

David looks at the buns and his sketch. "If the two become one.. my idea added top and bottom the tube could also become an escape pod, have an atmosphere pumped in when there's an emergency."

Mattie grabs a small bit of cake. "Where's everyone else?"

Toby smirks. "Testing an idea of Danny's."

"For?"

"Artificial gravity."

"Not his spinning ball again?"

"I know. We've got to let him prove to himself it won't work."

"And destroy something in the process? Hell no! As CEO I'm calling stop. He wrecked part of his garage with the bike wheel experiments, a heavy ball spinning at speed. Has he not seen The Dam Busters? Which way is it spinning?"

"Which way?"

"If the bearings fail and it drops to the floor does it race off through a wall or further into the building?"

"Um.." Toby closes his eyes and pictures it spinning up, moves a hand in the same way, pictures a bike wheel. "Towards the outer wall."

"Good. Coming? Bring a mug and cake."

The men look at each other. David grabs the plate of buns, Toby the lemon cake. They both pour a drink and stand ready.

~~~

Mattie walked with determination. "Demolition Dan is what we should call him. Ems sent me a photo of the block that smashed his scope when testing linear motor designs for the bike wheel." She shoves a door hard with her palm. "What the.." Danny had the wrecking ball from Dozer's crane hanging from a single bearing. "Tobs, you said.."

"He's changed it."

Mattie walks closer, "Dan!"

He doesn't turn.

"DAN!"

Still no response. Fuck getting any closer. She phones him. He turns to walk away and answer his phone, starts taking the ear defenders off. "Hi, won't be a sec."

"It's me calling you plonker!"

"Oh."

"Turn it off before we have an accident."

"Why?"

"If that bearing breaks."

"It won't."

"Want to bet everyone's lives on it?"

"Um.."

"Off! Now!"

He shuffles over to a large mains switch and flicks it up. Nothing appears to happen.

"Is it off?"

"Yeah. It'll take a while to stop."

"How long?"

"Probably as long as it took to spin up."

"Which was how long?"

"Just over an hour."

"For fuck's sake Danny! Didn't the bike experiments teach you anything? Abandon site. I want everyone miles from here. Now!"

"I think you're over reacting."

"Really? If the bearing broke, what would it do?"

"Um.."

"Go ask Sophie what her old spinning top does when it's slowed down a bit."

"Shit. Wobble and track sideways."

"Now the penny drops! You should have dug a big deep hole to do it in. Getting any signs of gravity from it?"

"No. But it has given me an ace idea."

"Tell me when we're away from here."

~~~

[Chapter-2](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-2-1)


	2. Chapter 2

They all sat outside in the nearest Pub garden in a set of concentric arcs. Danny had his phone taped to a poll back at base, in a video call to Sophie's iPad Mini. Her's was in an A4 plastic sleeve taped to a garden umbrella pole to be in the shade.

Sophie sucks on her lemonade. "Is it me or is it wobbling?"

"Yeah. It's wobbling. Which means the bearing is failing. Anyone want to place bets on what it wrecks?"

Danny keeps looking at his cider. "I'm sorry."

"So you should be! We've had the new site how long? And we're already facing it being wrecked. By the same f'ing wrecking ball as the previous building! Why isn't Dozer using it?"

"He's got a new even heavier one. Mine's six tons, his is twelve."

"Jesus."

Leo gets a dry empty pint glass and stuffs a twenty pound note into it. "My money is on it flattening Danny's equipment."

Mattie chuckles. "I'll flatten his equipment if the ball doesn't. Sorry Ems."

"Hey? Oh. _That_ equipment. You leave him alone. I'll get Risk Assessment forms from the various workshops at Uni. Danny will help merge them all into something HECLS can use. Won't you Dan?"

"Um.. yeah, sure. My money is on it just marking the floor."

"Bollocks. It'll do more than that. Six frigging tons. Risk assessments for any new type of project we do right everyone? Risk of fire, explosion, flood, RF interference, magnetic disturbances, you name it. Forty on it spinning into the kitchen." Two notes are added.

Mia sticks a twenty in. "No more cake for Danny if it does. My money is on it crashing through the back wall, spinning in a big arc and ending up in the lake."

Laura gives her a sideways tilted look. "Clockwise all the way around the back, around the side then in? That's quite an area to cover."

"I know Laura."

Laura puts two tens in. "My bet is that it wrecks the stairs up to the first floor."

Sophie opens her purse. "I need a pocket money raise. Two pounds it goes out through the front, through the garage."

"Frigging hell! It better not! I've still got boxes to unpack in there! We all do!"

Astrid waves a twenty. "Scheisse! Can someone put this in for me please. I also bet on the rear wall, but across the veggie garden. If it flattens my boxes in the garage. Big embarrassment."

Emily grins, "Got a few toys in boxes?"

"A few personal things from my childhood."

Sophie turns and kneels on her chair. "Things I can play with?"

" If you are very careful with them."

They hear a crash through the iPad, Sophie spins around fast. "Where'd it go!"

Mattie smiles, "Exit stage left. Towards the back wall. Astrid or Mia to win."

Fred looks annoyed. "I missed my chance again! I had my hands around Hobbs neck at the lab, couldn't strangle him because of the mods, then Poppy gets the chance to finish him. Now the bearing breaks before I can get my bet in. The universe is not fair."

Sophie gets back on her knees. "You can still bet Fred, we only know it went left and crashed into something."

Niska smiles, "Fred you should have bet online with Betfred."

She gets a load of groans from the men.

"What? Mattie can spot climate change cascade catastrophe is C4 and it's okay, I spot Bedfred and it's not?"

Mattie turns, "They're just pulling your leg Nis, ignore them. I thought it was quite nice."

Niska's frosty look lifts. "Thank you. You have better odds now Fred, what is your bet?"

"Forty that it's still spinning, will be back in the room to do more damage."

"That's not a very nice thing to bet on."

"I'm _the boring one_ that deals in facts remember?"

"That was just Leo 1.0 being a miserable human."

Leo turns. "Did I call you the boring one Fred?"

"You did."

"When?"

"When we first met the Hawkins family."

"Really? I don't remember that."

"You must do, it was before the visit to Hobb's lab which is where your backup came from."

"Nope. Not there."

Mattie pulls her knees up and turns to see him. "Bunny? Do you remember our conversation? When we'd got your clothes into the wash and you were sat eating a meal on a tray? I said sorry for getting you to show me some memories on the TV?"

"I do remember that."

"Weird. Why would you remember that and not what you said about Fred. David? Did you edit that out?"

David keeps looking at the iPad. "Yes. And a few other tiny details."

"Dad? Why?"

"They were little things that dragged your mood down."

"You can't just.."

There's a crashing sound.

Sophie stands on her chair and jumps up and down, "Fred wins!"

"Hang on Teeny, it's still spinning fast. Any more bets?"

Odi gets a fist full of coins out of his pocket. "All I have on it somehow wrecking the cupboard and smashing the jam."

"Aww, why's that?"

"I have nobody to say _your favourite is apricot_ to these days."

Sophie puts a hand high into the air, "Say it to me! Say it to me! I love it on crumpets!"

"You do?"

"I do. _And_ you toast them!"

"In which case I change my bet, I.. I believe it will come to rest exactly where we see it now."

Mattie passes the pint glass back for Flash to pass to Odi. "Any more bets?"

Emily pulls out a twenty, "I bet it will flatten the computer with the bike prototype design. Only because I don't want to win. I never win bets with money involved."

Mattie sniggers, "If that was a real thing.. you'd be worth a frigging fortune!"

"It's true. It's bloody annoying but true. If Douglas Adams was still alive he could write a whole series of books based on my betting bad luck. They'd be well funny."

Toby empties his glass. "Okay. Prove it." He waves his empty glass at her.

"Okay.. um.. ten quid you can't get another pint of that cider."

"You're on. They'd only just changed the barrel. I'll be right back. 'Scuse me Soph."

~~~

[Chapter-3](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-3-1)


	3. Chapter 3

Mattie shook her head. "It looks like a Loony Tunes accident has happened in here."

Danny looks her straight in the eyes. "I'll pay for all the damage."

Laura sizes up the two holes in the wall. "Good. I don't want to put an insurance claim in when the policy is so new. They'll get suspicious."

Sophie comes skipping in through one of the holes. "Astrid wins too, it ran over the vegetable garden."

Mattie gave Odi the pint glass. "Count it out, you get a third, Fred a third, give the other half to Astrid. If you see Toby remind him he owes Emily ten."

"Yes Mattie. Seventy one pounds and fifty nine and a third pence each. I remembered each bet."

"You can't split a penny. Make your one sixty pence."

"Thank you Mattie."

"What will you do with your money?"

"Save it for when I have an idea of what to spend it on."

Sophie turns to see the holes again. "We could put an extra door in there?"

Danny sighs, "Whatever we do with it we need to close the holes temporarily. I'll call Dad see if he's got some panels we can put over it."

Mattie stands behind him and rests hands on his shoulders, "While he's here ask him to take Miley away. We don't need a six ton wrecking ball."

"I didn't tell you about my idea."

"Come on then Einstein, spit it out."

"When I threw the switch to turn it off I got a massive spark from the back current."

"And?"

"If we need more current for a few seconds than we can get off the national grid we could use that."

Mattie sighed. More dream stuff. "So you want to use that instead of a flywheel? Motor to spin it up, generator to get current off it?"

"How'd you know about that?"

"How'd you think? You in the dream."

"Really?"

"Really. Get your Dad to dig a frigging deep shaft, lined with concrete, with enough concrete above it or depth so if anything goes wrong it doesn't come spinning up out of the whole killing someone. And get proper bearings, top and bottom."

"You got all that from your dream?"

"No, that lot's from common sense."

"I'll call Dad, see what he can do. Some of his mates might be able to help build a deep shaft. How deep do you want it?"

"As deep as possible. If it goes bang I don't want to feel it. And stick vibration sensors on it so it can be shut down if something's going wrong."

"Sure. I'll call Dad right now."

"Cool. I'm going to see Tobs and David, see if they've had any more ribbon ideas."

~~~

The ideas had been growing detail wise. Mia was using some of Danny's CAD software to create models of the various elements.

"Frigging hell. That looks awesome!"

Toby leans back and rests hands on the table, swings his legs. "The bunship looks sweet. It's now a single airship but with multiple cells for safety. Mia, can you show Mattie the view inside?"

"Of course dear."

Mattie smiled softly. Dear. They were definitely becoming a legit couple. The virtual camera tracks forwards and through the bunship gas cell, through the wall of the cylinder and into the open space inside. Around the inside were four sets of seats set one above the other like a giant fairground ride. Mia typed and the top and bottom ends opened up like a camera lens iris.

"Wow. Do you think you can make that?"

David nods. "Easily. Inside it's carbon fibre and resin for strength and lightness, made in sections that bolt together. A bit like an old wooden beer barrel. The iris will be the hardest part. It needs to withstand high temperatures when it drops."

"Easy?"

"Compared to a beautiful synthetic like Mia? A walk in the park."

"It'll seat just sixteen? Why not more?"

"Weight. The parachutes have to be able to slow its drop. We're assuming a few of the gas cells will have gone."

"Gone?"

"Tiny meteor strikes, things we can't control."

"Plan for the worst.. gotcha. What is the worst case scenario?"

"Someone has to operate it manually?"

Toby sits up, "So we need wheels we can turn by hand to close the iris? And levers to deploy chutes."

Mia turns to look at them all, "And something to get off the ribbon. And radio communications to warn those above and below what's happening."

Mattie looks at the screen. "Can you move the camera back out?"

"Of course Mattie." Mia spins around to face the PC.

"We need to think of the worst thing that can happen and plan for it. What if all the gas cells are good but you need to get off the ribbon for some reason and get back to Earth? What stops you crashing onto the one below?"

David hums SOS to himself. "We'd need small rockets to pull the whole thing sideways then. And where do they come from if it's surrounded by the gas cells?"

Toby jumps off the table. "Mats, remember when we pulled Soph on the toboggan and the ropes weren't right?"

"It kept wanting to turn left."

David looks between them. "Describe the ropes?"

Toby does a quick sketch. "It's just a triangle. Rope tied to the front corners. But the grip we pulled with wasn't dead centre so it pulled left. If we used the same idea rockets could launch from the top, have steel cords pull them into position."

"And the cords can come out from between the gas cells."

"Yeah, something like that. Shorter at the top so it pulls up slightly and sideways."

"Why up?"

"We don't want it pulling the thing to the ground do we?"

"No. We sure don't. Mia, can the software estimate weights?"

"With the correct numbers entered, yes."

"Good. Let's run some simulations then build scale models for testing."

~~~

[Chapter-4](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-4-1)


	4. Chapter 4

Not quite a month later everyone was stood by the edge of the lake. Sophie's old Barbie dolls were strapped in the scaled down Bunship. The nickname had stuck. Everyone had played a part in making the scale model. Lead shot had been added to the dolls to make their weights more realistic. The gas cells were far bigger than in the original CAD drawings, the volume adjusted to match the required lift to keep the thing in the air and the ribbon taut.

"Mia, as lead engineer, would you like to do the honours?"

"Thank you David." She presses a button on the control pad, the model lift starts a slow climb up the ribbon.

Sophie times it on her phone. "Is the speed to scale too?"

"It is Sophie."

"Can't it go faster?"

"If it was a long ribbon from the ground to space with no joins and no bunships yes. We can't go that fast as we need the lift to safely get past the couplers. And the bunship needs to open the lower iris, let the lift in, close it then open the top one. Like gates on a canal lock. We can't have both open at once."

"Why not?"

"What would stop it from drifting sideways in the wind and the lift hitting it?"

"Oh. If we fix the drifting can we make it go faster?"

"If you can come up with some magic to fix that Sophie, yes."

"Okay." The lift slows as it approaches the lower iris. "What happens if the iris doesn't open Danny?"

"Sensors detect it and it stops."

"Then what?"

"Someone has to suit up and get out to try and fix it."

"So we need an air lock?"

"We do. That's how people get in on the ground and out at the top."

"Could it also double as the space for a toilet?"

It gets quite a bit of laughter.

"What's so funny?"

Toby does a mime. "Traveler goes to the toilet, accidentally flushes themselves into space."

David rubs his chin. "I think it's a good idea. If the toilet is in use it could mechanically lock the outer airlock door."

Toby does another mime, "We need to abandon ship! Go away Toby I'm doing a poo!"

Mattie clips him around the back of the head, "Don't be a cock. We engineer out single points of failure where we can. Two airlock loos, one either side for balance. Two motors to pull it up the ribbon."

Emily watches the model lift slowly disappear into the bunship. "Two airlocks like that will need a lot of space if we're to keep the outside cylindrical won't they?"

"Ems babe, you're thinking normal loo. We need spaceship loos. They need to work in zero G too."

"Right babe. How big are they?"

"Tiny."

"So the loo bit can be to the side? And the air lock doors can't both be open at the same time, so one being open blocks the other from opening? Curved doors moving around a cylinder. Two loo cylinders in our lift cylinder?"

"Could be. Who thinks we should add anything else?"

Sophie raises a hand. "Somewhere for food and water, inflight entertainment and charger sockets. A lift to the top will take _ages_ won't it?"

"It will. All good thoughts Teeny. I say we make a scale mockup of the lift and get Dozer to lift it up with his crane so we can try things out. Anyone disagree?"

They all watch the upper iris open and the lift start the climb to the next section.

"Sounds like we have a plan. Want to get your upscaled 3D printer working on the template for the carbon fibre sections then Dan?"

"Sure. Elsters, how deep is the lake?"

Niska smiles, "Deep."

"Deep enough to do space suit and airlock training?"

"Easily. We've all had fun swimming in it."

"Cool. Another thing we'll need made, maybe Mum and Cindy can help with the space suits. I know synths don't need air, I think they should all be the same design though."

Sophie looks to her sister, "Size small for me. What can I do?"

"Fancy a trip to America when you break up for the holidays?"

"Yes!" She frowns. "What for?"

"To see all the space museums for more ideas."

Sophie jumps up and down and turns as she does so. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Leo smiles, "The Hawkins Sisters World Tour. Part One."

"You're coming too Bunny."

"With these legs?"

"Sure, you just need documentation on your legs for when you set the security scanner off. And run around like crazy before you board the flight to get a full charge."

Fred looks at his brother. "Much as you don't want any new scars I think a charge coil would be a sensible upgrade for you Leo. You can't jump out and run around on a flight. Or when in the space lift."

Leo exhales with puffed up cheeks. "Okay. We'll do it. But under local okay?"

~~~

[Chapter-5](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-5-1)


	5. Chapter 5

The week had raced past for all but Sophie. Leo puts his seat tray up for takeoff. "I'm not powering down for the flight. I'm not a synth."

The stewardess turns her device to face him. "But my hand scanner says you are."

"I'm a hybrid. Mostly human."

"Do you have large batteries?"

"Reasonably large. But not as large as my brothers and sisters."

"Then by our definition you are a synth."

"Do you power down for the flight?"

"No sir, I am part of the crew."

"So your airline wants all synths to power down for the whole flight yet humans only need to sleep when they want to? Unless they're synth cabin crew?"

"Yes sir. It is in the booking conditions."

"But I'm not a synth. I have no on off switch."

"Then you'll have to get off the flight sir."

Sophie looks up at the stewardess, "Can you come back in a minute? I'll have words."

"I can. One minute." She walks off to do something else.

Mattie leans forwards to see past Leo. "What's your idea Soph?"

Sophie whispers. "A little fib. Leo can bump something to make her change her mind."

"Like what?"

"Like you're really the one who gave her life and Leo's here to protect you."

Mattie does shut up eyes.

Sophie winks and talks a little louder. "We all know it was Hobb. The rest of the world doesn't know that yet. When's the trial?"

Mattie's expression changes into a loving smile. "Soph! You're quite the badass little sister!"

Sophie giggles. "Thanks. Since we saved so much flying in the cheap seats can you buy me some duty free?"

"What are you after?"

"Some perfume so I can smell as nice as you. But something different."

"When they come around with the trolley, sure."

"Thanks!"

Mattie sat back and smiled softly. She was lucky to have a sister like Sophie. Apart from the short synthie spell when she was missing the Elster family she was a pretty cool kid.

The stewardess returns. "I'm so sorry sir, I didn't know. Here's complimentary vouchers for extra drinks should one of the other crew members serve you. And some better headphones should you want to watch a movie. Enjoy the flight."

Leo smiles, "Thank you Sally. We will."

Mattie watches her go. "I'm so sorry sir, I didn't know? What did you tell her?"

"The truth. That I'm Leo Elster. Son of David, creator of synthetics. You're my wife to be. You created the code to wake synths up. Edwin stole it and woke them all up at once."

Mattie frowns and whispers. "Life signs?"

"I bumped it while she was at the other end of the cabin. By the time she got to us they'd settled down."

"That's a trick worth remembering."

"I won't forget."

"I was talking about me."

~~~

Sophie had to be reminded a couple of times that she had headphones on and that passengers trying to sleep could hear her giggles. Mattie ordered her a milky hot chocolate. It did the trick. She was soon in the land of dreams.

Leo heavily under-clocked to conserve power and let his body rest, kept his eyes open. After the surgery he'd found that he didn't need to sleep quite as long or deeply as he used to if he had a good charge. He day dreamed about the wedding to come. Where would it be? Who'd be the one to marry them?

~~~

Two hours before they were due to land Sophie got her Lady Million.

"Can I put some on now Mattie?"

"I think it has to stay in the bag until we get off Teeny."

"Oh. Okay. Mmm. What's that smell?"

Leo takes in a good lung full. "It smells like pancakes and maple syrup. Breakfast."

"But isn't it dinner time?"

"Time zone change. It's breakfast time in America."

Mattie strokes his thigh, "You remembered this time then Bunny?"

"I've been adjusting my real time clock throughout the flight."

~~~

[Chapter-6](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-6-1)


	6. Chapter 6

Getting out of JFK was proving harder than getting past security at Heathrow..

"Mattie, when can we go?"

"When they've finished questioning Leo."

"You mean interrogating."

"Yeah. Probably. They were being so aggressive at the gate."

"He's not done anything wrong."

"I know Teeny. I think they're being over cautious. A British terrorist nicknamed The Shoe Bomber wanted to blow up an American Airlines flight in 2001."

"And Leo's British."

"And has things in his legs."

"And head."

Mattie smiles at her. "Which would make any security team frigging nervous don't you think? It probably isn't helping that he has a fresh scar on his hip from Fred fitting the charge coil two weeks ago."

"Can I try my perfume now?"

"Sure."

~~~

Just as Sophie has it unwrapped and a little sprayed on her wrist the door opens and Leo steps out.

"Let's go ladies."

"All good?"

"It is now. And I've got a new stamp in my passport so I don't have to go through all that again."

"All what Buns?"

"X-rays, blood, urine and saliva tests."

"What!"

"I'm clean as a whistle. The stamp will be valid for the whole time we're here. It's Homeland Security's."

"Do you like my perfume Leo?" Sophie holds out her hand for Leo to smell.

"Hmm. Lovely. I'll be able to tell you apart just by smell."

"Where are we going first?"

Leo grabs their trolley, "To a hotel to check in, then the Kennedy Space Center."

"Cool. Can we go to Disney or Universal while we're here?"

Mattie stands behind Sophie and gives Leo a wink and nod in her direction.

"We _might_ be able to squeeze a quick visit in. Which one?"

"Disney! Oh _please_!"

Mattie grabs her hand, "You know this is supposed to be a work visit?"

"Yes, but all the time?"

"Earth won't save itself. We've got the Sky Lift to build to get a monster of a sun screen into space. If we don't global warming won't stop."

Sophie sighs, "Oh well."

Mattie's phone starts ringing, Emily's tone. "Hi Ems, everything okay? Yeah, just leaving the airport. Sure." The phone is held out. "Ems for you Soph."

"Me?"

"Yup."

Sophie frowns and accepts the phone. "Hello? Yes. Maybe." Her frown turns into a smile. "We might. Yes, okay! See you in a week. I will! Bye."

"What was all that about?"

"Something for Mia and Nis. If we go to Disney."

"Is it a secret?"

"For the moment."

Leo waves at a taxi. "Let's go drop off the bags."

~~~

The synth at the hotel reception smiled warmly at them. "Hello again. We've changed the beds around especially for you Sophie."

Sophie frowns, "Again?" She does a little gasp. "Mia?"

"Yes Sophie."

"Hehe. You look _so_ different."

"This model is quite popular in America. You'll see quite a lot of me I'm sure. If you could sign here Leo."

"Sure. Complete the saying of yours. Don't argue with me, I used to.."

"Tie your shoe laces."

He chuckles, "Hello Mia. I've not seen you as an African American before. You look good."

"Thank you. And if I could see your passports."

"You know who we are."

"I'm following hotel procedures. They don't know, that I know, that you know, me."

Sophie giggles, "That's a lot of knows." She spots the name badge. "Where's your Anthymia name from? Or is it made up?"

"It has its origins in the Old Greek Sophie, a derivative of Anthea. Flowery, blossom. Thank you Leo. Room 1412. If there's anything I can do for you just call."

"Thanks Mia. How are they treating you?"

"Very well. I have a twelve hour shift four days a week then the rest of the week to myself."

Mattie slides the room cards off the top of the desk, "Where are you staying?"

"I have a small charge cupboard downstairs in the basement."

"What! How the frig is that treating you well?"

"I only go there to charge, I spend all my waking time at work or outside seeing the city."

"But what if you meet someone? You can't invite them back to a frigging cupboard!"

"True. It does prevent me from doing many things."

"Can't you rent somewhere?"

"I don't earn enough."

"Fuck this. I'll talk to Mia back home, get her to rent an apartment here. You can time share it with a few other you."

"Thank you Mattie." She looks around, "Would you mind if I gave you a hug?"

"Not at all."

~~~

Upstairs Sophie opens the door to the room and races in. "Weeeee! Leo! Mattie! The beds are _huge!_ " She leaps and twists, lands on her back star fish style.

"You nutter Teeny. Which one do you want?"

"They're both the same aren't they?"

"They look it."

"This one then."

Mattie lifts Sophie's case and drops it on the bed. "Don't bother unpacking just yet, we're not sure how many nights we'll be here."

~~~

[Chapter-7](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-7-1)


	7. Chapter 7

Sophie looks up at the section of the Saturn V rocket. "Whoa that's big!"

"Cut a length off Teeny and stick it in your pocket, that would do for the tube for the bunship."

"I'd need big pockets. Will it really be that big?"

"Not far off it."

"Wow! You know you can stop calling me Teeny. I'm not so small now."

"You're a teenager so it still fits."

"What are you going to call me when I'm twenty?"

"Probably just Soph. Unless you do something to earn a new nickname."

"Can I pick one from your anagram thing?"

"It's not mine, search for Anagram Server."

"Okay. Where is HECLS going to get all the material to make the bunships?"

"I think we're going to need to contract out a lot. Like the outside skin. Sure Danny can make the innards, but we don't have a massive steelworks."

"I wonder if a Mia works at one?"

Mattie stops dead. "Holy shit. Awesome idea Teeny! Why haven't we thought of getting a list of what they're all doing before?"

"Because I only just thought of it? Do you think Anthymia could help get that?"

"Yeah. Maybe. Give her a call."

"How?"

Mattie pulls out the card room key holder. "Give this number a call, ask the operator if you can talk to reception."

"Okay."

Leo wraps an arm around Mattie, rests his hand on her hip. "You're rubbing off on her." They watch her talking matter of factly like only she could.

"Mini Badass Me? Good isn't she."

"Yup. Where d'you think we'll see the best example of something with a heat shield?"

"No idea Bunny, we'll have to ask someone or look at everything."

"Okay. When we're done I'm buying all the books I can carry."

Mattie gives him a peck on the cheek. "Have your arms shrunk back to normal length then?"

"Ha. I don't need them stretching again that's for sure. That perfume bottle was incredibly heavy. It's why I brought the rucksack."

"That guy looks like a tour guide, let's go ask."

Sophie lowers the phone, "Which one?"

"The one with the white hair and beard."

Sophie gives him a head tilt. "He looks too important to be a tour guide."

"Well lets start with him, maybe he can point someone out."

"Okay." Sophie skips off to say hello.

Leo chuckles. "Did you skip around like that when you were her age?"

"Maybe."

"Have you seen Morecambe and Wise?"

"I'm not skipping over to him like that, no way."

~~~

They stroll over and find the two deep in conversation.

The elderly man frowns at the young couple, "The young lady tells me you're building something to get into space?"

Leo nods, "We're giving it some serious thought."

"Do you know how many millions it takes to launch a rocket my boy?"

"We're not using rockets sir. We're building a sky lift.."

Sophie nods enthusiastically, "From the ground up."

"From scratch?"

"Yes. But also from the ground up to space."

A middle aged man steps close, "Sorry to interrupt, could I have your autograph sir?"

"Who's it for?"

"Jackson."

The man scribbles, "Have a good one Jackson."

"Thanks Buzz."

Sophie gives him a head tilt then goes all bug eyed. "To infinity and beyond!"

"Teeny?"

"Mattie! This is _the_ Buzz! The Buzz that inspired Pixar to name the spaceman in Toy Story Buzz Lightyear."

"Flipping heck. Buzz Aldrin?"

The man smiles, "The one and the same."

"Cool! This is my boyfriend Leo. Leo Elster. David Elster's son."

"David? Ah! The man that invented synths and put a lot of astronauts out of work."

"Sorry."

"Don't be. It's risky stuff space. Very risky."

"Which is why we're here doing research."

Sophie gets her iPad out of her little rucksack. "We've made a scale model, would you like to see a video of it?"

"I would, but let's see if we can borrow a conference room somewhere for a bit of uninterrupted quiet."

~~~

[Chapter-8](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-8-1)


	8. Chapter 8

Buzz got comfortable in one of the big padded seats. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look like the average 21st century space pioneers."

Mattie flashes a smile. "Good. Because we're not. Average."

"Let me see the video."

Sophie gets to his side, "This is a scale model of one bunship and a lift."

"Bunship?"

"Inspired by Mia's cake baking. She's a synth. The best."

"Mia?"

Sophie gives him a curious smile, "Do you know her?"

"Not personally. Only from the news. Which one do you know?"

"The original."

"The orig.. oh of course, you're British." He watches the video in silence. "That's an interesting design. You're hoping to get how high with it?"

Mattie sits forwards and rests on the table. "Space?"

"It's a pretty big place. Which bit?"

"Up high enough to put something into an orbit where it will stay put."

"To do what?"

"Act as a sun screen, help cool the earth to help slow what we're calling C4, buy us more time."

"C4?"

"Climate change cascade catastrophe."

Buzz leans back and has a good long laugh, "My dear lady. I applaud your desire to try, I really do. But do you have any idea how big an object you'd need to make even a tiny difference?"

"Big. Really frigging big. I'm at university. I've spoken to a number of people already about materials. We think that super thin foil used to cover parts of satellites would do. Perforated to allow some light through."

"Hypothetically, if you could make it, what would you target first?"

"What do you mean?"

"It would take a long time to build, so what does it throw shade on first?"

"Oh, gotcha, the poles. We'd start in two places and try and meet in the middle."

"You realise the chances of it not being destroyed by meteor showers are slim?"

Leo sits forwards and gives Buzz his most serious look. "We know it would need constant maintenance. That's one reason for having synthetics doing a lot of the work. They don't need air or food, only power. Easily collected with solar panels. The sky lift would be used to bring materials up most of the time."

"I can see you've given it a lot of thought. What are you missing?"

"We want to make it safer for anyone traveling in the lift. Heat shields, parachutes, space suits, airlocks, things like that."

"Each of your airships, they can support a lift?"

"That's the plan."

"How many lifts active at a time on the total length?"

Mattie and Leo exchange glances.

Sophie frowns, "You can't have one per section, how would the top one get to the bottom? The other lifts would be in the way."

"They would. Which is why I think you should make stations."

"Stations?"

"A way to let one lift past another. Then you could have a super light express lift with nothing but materials onboard, a slower lift with what a synthetic or human crew member needs. And I'd build escape pod style lifts that once up stay up. Kept up there for emergencies."

Mattie gives him a lovely smile. "Fancy being a consultant for us?"

"I'd have to do it in secret. If some folk found out I was helping you Brits not Americans.."

Sophie had put his name in the anagram maker. "Buzzard Nil. We could add an e and call you Neil Buzzard?"

It gets a chuckle. "Mr Buzzard it is then. I'll help on one condition."

Mattie beams. "Name it."

"Assuming this gets off the ground.. which I'm increasingly of the opinion it might.. I get the chance to ride in a lift. See our beautiful planet from space one more time."

"DEAL!"

"One more idea for you before I forget it. Have the sun screen held together in sections with magnets. Strong enough to hold it together in normal conditions, weak enough for sections to break away under stress."

"Why?"

"If you float a plastic sheet on a pond and drop a heavy pebble.."

"Right. We don't want a bigger meteor pulling the whole thing out of orbit. Awesome. Thanks Mr Buzzard, I think we'll enjoy having you onboard."

"Do you have a business card?"

Mattie gets one from her purse and slides it over.

"HECLS. Challenging the future aggressively. You sure look to be doing that. I'll set up a new hotmail account, expect to see an email by the end of the week."

"Thanks Buzz. I mean Neil."

"The real Neil would have loved to see what you kids are doing. God rest his soul. I'll send you a list of things to think about."

"Such as?"

"Registering for a column of restricted air space. You don't want any aircraft getting caught in your ribbon. How are you going to prove the technology?"

Leo sits back and scratches his stubble beard. "We have a large deep lake at the estate. We planned to test the lift and space suits in there. We could make a bunship and station to sit above them. Anchoring the ribbon to the lake bed will be a challenge."

Buzz stands. "It sounds like you have a reasonably solid plan. If you can do this you'll beat a number of others to it. You're not the only ones trying to turn Arthur's idea into reality."

"We're not?"

"You're not. I hope for your sake you don't have a Sputnik and Gagarin outcome."

Mattie shrugs, "I don't care if we do. It's not about being first. It's all about the end goal. Saving the people on Earth."

"Good for you. That's the spirit." He leads them towards the doors. "This will cost many millions. Who's backing you?"

"So far Prince James Ferdinand and hundreds of thousands of synth brothers and sisters."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Are you.. are you the company that gave him new legs?"

Mattie beamed all girly like. "The one and the same. Surgeon Fred Elster is Leo's brother."

Leo watches the frown build on Buzz's face. "I have a mixed race family. I'm part synth."

"Good for you son. Selling shares in HECLS?"

Mattie shakes her head, "Sorry, no. We don't want to give anyone the chance to do a hostile takeover and derail our mission."

"Good thinking. I'd still like to help. I earn a dollar or two from doing talks. Which reminds me, I better go get myself ready for my next one. Do you have tickets?"

~~~

[Chapter-9](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-9-1)


	9. Chapter 9

Sophie almost walked into an exhibit she was focused on her iPad so much. "Oops. I like this one." She holds her finger against the text.

Mattie takes a look. "Whoa Shine Skip? Shiny. You loved shiny things when you were tiny, Shiny it is Soph. Or Skippy. Shiny's better, you're not a kangaroo. Bunny, what do you fancy doing now?"

"I think we should spend the rest of the day here. Then spend a full day at Disney. What do you think Shiny?"

Sophie jumps up and down, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"I thought you'd like that. Anyone hungry?"

"Yeah Buns, let's find some lunch."

"Follow me then." He turns.

"You know where.. of course you do. You've been building up a map."

"I has skills." He chuckles, "Might as well use them. What did you think of his talk Shiny?"

"It was good. And quite funny. He's good at pulling silly faces too. Do you think he'd be my pen pal?"

Mattie puts an arm over her shoulder and pulls her closer. "Do you think you can keep it a secret? You can't talk about him at school with your friends."

Sophie does a big exaggerated sigh, "I better not then. Unless he's Buzz, not in disguise."

~~~

They all slow as Leo brings them to Orbit Cafe.

Sophie giggles, "Build your own salad. Like Build a bear but healthier. Did you want rabbit food Leo?"

Mattie gives her a sideways shoulder hug, "You can't eat a bear you nutter Soph."

"Exactly! I'd like a burger, but not a whole one. They look too big."

Leo looks at the menu. "How about a large burger we cut into three? And salads."

"Please!"

~~~

They're close to finishing when they're joined by Buzz. He was breathing heavily. "Found you! Give me a moment." He sits and catches his breath. "Forgive me, but I asked my fellow veterans what they'd do for one more chance to see Big Blue from space. No details of you, just that question. If you want it you have a team. To old to do anything physical, but the brains are still sharp. Mostly."

Leo pushed a cherry tomato around his plate. "If we could offer you something life changing in return for your support, would you give us your time in full?"

"I'd need to give up my commitments here."

"You could do both."

"I can't if you want my time in full.."

"You can if you're in two places at once." He looks up at Buzz and bounces an eyebrow. "Buzz here, Neil in the UK."

Buzz looks most confused. "How?"

"Consciousness transference. Only in your case it would be consciousness replication. We'd let both copies of you take a ride in the lift. Flesh and bone and synth copy."

Buzz sits with his mouth open for a while.

Leo looks back at the rest of his salad. Rabbit food. "It's been done a few times. My father developed the technology to save me. My brain is part synthetic. He used it to save himself and get into a new body before killing the old one."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was free to go about his work without anyone recognising him. Nobody expected a Cindy synth to be him."

"You're saying I could become part of the team of synthetics that build the shades? Stay up in space for months on end?"

Leo nods.

A tear runs down Buzz's face. "Where do I sign up?"

"Make an excuse to give us a visit in the UK. Tell your fellow space vets to do the same. Don't tell anyone else and don't all come at once. Two or three at once tops. Don't even tell family. We'll design and build you a new body. Bring ID and plenty photos of yourselves as younger men. And women if there are any."

Buzz smiles, "You're the most unlikely heroes I've seen. But if a porter at your Victoria station can be elected president of Zambia anything is possible."

Mattie frowns hard. "Who?"

"Michael Sata. Didn't you know?"

"No?"

"It was big news over here. I might be able to get one of the old computers to join in. They never got the chance to go into space not being astronauts, but if it wasn't for them we would never have done it." He sees the lost looks on all three faces. "Computers were humans long before IBM got into the mix. They computed all of the maths by hand and with mechanical calculators. IBM made a machine to speed it up."

"Did they lose their jobs?"

"They had a smart cookie, Dorothy. She saw it coming, got them all learning Fortran. They became NASA's programmers. John Glenn wouldn't have made it home safe without the work of her and her friends."

Mattie has a look of realisation. "Fortran? Oh my God! Is that Dorothy Vaughan you're talking about?"

"That's her."

"We learnt about her at school when we were going through the development of computer languages. She's awesome."

"Was awesome. She died in oh-eight."

"Oh. Sorry."

"We've all got to go sometime."

Leo stabs the tomato with his fork. "Unless you visit us. Then your synth copy can live on. Forever."

"Forever?"

"Wear one body out, transfer to the next like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Synth technology will keep improving."

Buzz's hands shake a little from the excitement. He offers a hand out. "When will you be back home?"

"We'd planned to be here at least a week visiting all the places we can for research."

"Shake on it and we'll bring everything you need to you starting in a week."

Mattie shakes his hand. "Cool. You're on. Shiny can spend some decent time in Disney _and_ Universal then."

"Yay!"

The three give her a laugh.

Buzz gives her a lovely smile. "Mattie Hawkins. The Zuckerberg of Space. I take it Shiny is a nickname?"

"Derived from part of an anagram of her name."

"I see. Since you like those so much.. People my age are called OAPs in your country aren't they?"

"Yup."

"Stick Space in front."

"SOAPS! Haha! Nice."

Sophie nods, "I like that. Can you be my pen pal Mr Aldrin?"

"Since it's you. Yes. Let me have your email address."

Sophie looks to Mattie, "Do you have a pen?"

Mattie shakes her head. "We'll set you up a Sophie at HECLS one."

"Thanks."

Buzz gets up to go. "I'll let you get on. Years ago one of my talk guests said great ideas fall from space all the time. You just need your head to be in the right place to catch them."

Mattie stood too. "I call them roosters. The ones that aren't fleeting and fly away but stay and grow."

"Roosters eh? I like that. Do you have a fund especially for this project? Quite separate from everything else?"

"Not yet."

Leo gets up. "We should Angel."

"Yes Bunny, we should."

Buzz looks to Leo, then back to Mattie. "Angel, Bunny, Shiny. You like.. what an ideal name for a project to save the Earth. The Angel Foundation.."

Mattie got a bad case of goosebumps and shivered.

".. I can picture a logo too. You in pure white with wings out shading the Earth."

Mattie went light headed and managed to grab a chair back fast. "Oh boy.."

"Are you okay?"

"Just a little dizzy. You just described something from a dream I had. Angel synths."

"If you need to go rest we have a first aid room."

"I'll be fine."

"Sure?"

"Honestly. I'll be okay."

"If you change your mind talk to any of the staff, tell them Buzz told you to ask."

"I will."

"Must go, I'm talking to a small group about rockets in a few."

"Thanks. See you in the UK soon."

~~~

[Chapter-10](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-10-1)


	10. Chapter 10

Leo looked around. "To think we thought he was a tour guide. Right place at the right time. Almost as if ordained. Spooky. Or as Toby would say, _Result!_ "

"Yeah. He would. Right result. And that Angel comment, that was well spooky."

Leo looked at Sophie. "We had a budget for taking internal flights around the US, what do you think about checking out of the hotel and checking into a Disney resort, have a bit of fun instead?"

"Yes please!"

"We could see if Anthymia is going off shift, let her come too."

Mattie hugged Leo, "I think she'd like that. Version two of you is turning out alright."

~~~

Sophie was calling the hotel before they'd even left the building to get a cab. "You can! Yipee! We'll see you at the hotel in the evening then." She hangs up. "If we go to Disney now and sort out rooms we can pick her up after the fireworks."

"LOL! Who promoted you to Mission Commander? We need to check out first Shiny, or we'll end up paying for two lots of rooms."

"Oh. Can we do that now then?"

"That's where we're heading."

"Yay!"

"So Anthymia liked the idea?"

"She's swapping shifts with another."

"Cool."

Leo gets between them and puts a hand on shoulders. "I've just made a reservation at the Disney Yacht Club Resort." He feels Sophie's posture change. "It shares _the best_ swimming pool. Storm-Along Bay is three acres of pools. And they have sand at the bottom."

She looks up at him, "Sand?"

"Real sand."

"How big is three acres?"

"Have you watched any football league matches at home on TV?"

"When Toby watches."

"A football field in the UK is about one and a half. So two football pitches worth of pools to explore."

Her slump ends. "Wow!"

Mattie sighs, "Shame I didn't pack a swimming costume."

Leo grins. "Why didn't you?"

"Couldn't find it."

"Maybe because I'd already packed it?"

She pulls him around and thumps his chest lightly, "Presumptuous much?" Before he can answer she grabs his head and pulls him closer for a long kiss.

Sophie is spinning around, arms out singing to herself when Mattie stops for air.

"Bunny. Packed board shorts or smugglers?"

"Both."

"Teeny, careful, you'll get dizzy."

"I know."

"Did you pack a costume?"

"One in the big case, one in my rucksack."

"You have one here?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Mum said I might find myself in really hot places and want to cool down. I've got factor fifty too."

"iPad, costume, suntan cream, what else have you stuck in there?"

"My purse. The jelly beans I got near the hotel. My phone. And the charger."

"Charger? Why?"

She touches her big yellow smiley face badge. "Shit happens."

"Soph!"

"Forrest Gump?"

"Oh, yes. I remember those bits."

"And you said Heckles needs to plan for the worst, hope for the best."

~~~

Leo had Sophie sit in the middle. "Are you enjoying things then Sophie?"

She pretends to be a Texan they'd seen in one of the queues, "Why Hell Yes!"

"Haha. Good. All the delay at JFK was worth it then."

She rests her head against her sister. "Mattie. Your dream, the voice you heard, could it have all been part of the hypnotism?"

"I guess. Why not just tell me?"

Leo looks out of the passenger window. "Because the person who left the message wanted to be anonymous?" He looks back at the two and shrugs, "If it wasn't all hypnotism then it's something stranger like one the books Toby reads. A message from the future, or a parallel universe."

"Yeah, right. As if."

"Exactly. Which leaves one question."

Sophie rolls her head to see him. "Which is?"

"When did someone get the chance to hypnotise Mattie long enough to give her all that detail? So much she could picture it in her mind?"

Mattie sighed. "Your Dad's invention. Can it push or only pull?"

"You think Dad might have planted the ideas?"

"I'm not suggesting who. Just asking is it possible to use it like that?"

"I have no idea." He pulls his phone out and sends a message. It's replied to in seconds. "He says no. Not as far as he's aware. The security at your first house wasn't exactly great, we should give Odi all the resources he needs to keep security tight at the estate."

Mattie laughs, "It'll be tight until Demo Danny knocks holes in it. If I was hypnotised, it could have been years ago."

"When would someone have had access to you for hours without Laura or Joe around?"

"I can't think of.. oh frig. The Paris school trip. But that was _years_ ago."

"Mattie Hawkins. Ace coder and Eco Sleeper. It would explain how you knew that old hotel so well."

"So our best theory is that I was kidnapped at the age of thirteen, taken to a hotel and hypnotised for hours, all without the school noticing I was missing?"

"Was it a good school?"

"Okay I guess?"

"I mean were the teachers that organised? Did they do regular head counts to see you were all there?"

"I don't remember. Was your one?"

"I was mostly home schooled by Nis. When I was far younger school was okay."

~~~

[Chapter-11](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-11-1)


	11. Chapter 11

Anthymia met them by the doors, gave all three a hug. Sophie first, then Mattie, then Leo who got the longest. "Thank you Leo."

"Mind if I call you Mia?"

"I'd like that."

"We need to get our bags and check out. Do you have a swimming costume?"

"I went and got one as soon as you said where we're going."

Sophie jumps. "Yay! Can you teach me how to swim like a mermaid?"

"I think we should be able to work it out, don't you?"

"This is the best holiday _ever_." She wraps arms around Mattie without even thinking about it. "Shame we have to go home in a week."

"Six days."

"Six days then."

~~~

Upstairs Mia gets to see the beds. "I've only seen photographs. May I?"

Mattie looks shocked. "You've never been up past the ground floor?"

"First floor as they call it here. No."

"That's verging on criminal. Go ahead. I'm calling Mia at home, we're getting you an apartment before we leave. How many other Mia are there in the vicinity?"

Mia flopped back onto the bed and moved like someone in snow making a snow angel.

"Five in my hotel. Six in The Radisson, four in.."

"Total?"

"Sixty four."

Mattie smiles, "A nice binary number."

"It was sixty five. Miami got run over."

"What!"

"She was a show girl, one of her fans didn't like her saying no."

"Fuck. What happened to her?"

"She's in a box. Permanent sleep charge."

"What the fuck? Where?"

"At the club. The owner can't bear to bury or recycle her. Because then he has to say goodbye and admit it's finally over. They'd fallen in love."

Sophie looked traumatised. She'd seen Mia be knocked down. "Can we help fix her?"

"She gave a DNR order."

"Do not resuscitate?"

"Do not repair."

Leo sat on the other bed. "An equivalent. Why?"

"The quality of repairs around here. They're not that good. She would need major mechanical work, so many skin packs."

Mattie sat. "How is she still alive?"

"She's in a box full of synth fluid and salt water. She'd told Jack about it."

Mattie gave Leo a knowing look. "Memories of Max? Mia, if they were better repairs, would she have thought differently?"

"Of course. She's me at the core."

Leo's mouth curls up at the edges. "She's a smart lady. If I told you Prince James got us a Persona build machine and we can build her a whole new body. Better than the original.."

Mia sat up so fast it caught them off guard. "Can you take me to Jack?"

"Now?"

"Now."

Mattie jumps up, "Sure. We'll check out, see Jack and head to Disney."

"Maybe Leo should take me and we see you at Disney?"

"Why?"

"She worked in a burlesque club."

"Ah."

Sophie stands, "I've seen the film with Cher and Christina Aguilera."

"You're not allowed in places serving alcohol until your twenty one Sophie."

" _Twenty one!_ That's _eight_ years away!"

"Sorry. Their rules."

"Can we wait outside?"

Mia stood. "Yes Sophie. That would be allowed. There's no law preventing you from walking around the building."

Sophie folded her case back up and zipped it together. "Ready. Mattie?"

Mattie pulled their case from the end of the room. "Ready. Bunny?"

Leo's mind was elsewhere, talking privately to Fred via a silent call.

"Leo?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you ready?"

"Give me a few seconds."

He sat there focused on nothing in particular.

Sophie gets her case to the door, returns for Mattie and Leo's.

Leo stands. "Okay. Was she a standard model Mia?"

"A Sally with a hair mod."

"Just hair?"

"Yes."

"Fred's got the inventory at the estate in his head. We've got two Sally that need a new home still."

Mattie frowns, "Still?"

"They traced the previous owners of the few that are left, their jobs have gone. Mia doesn't want to take them over unless there's a job for them."

"They'll all have a job. For HECLS."

"You need to tell her then. Shame we didn't bring a DCL laptop."

"Why?"

"We could have backed her up here, shipped the data over the Internet and have her board a flight in a few days."

"It's got to be easier than shipping a body in salt water. They're only a high end laptop in a new shell for the drive tray underneath. We could hack one up over here using USB3 parts. Dan's are SATA so faster, but we won't be pushed for time will we?"

Leo shakes his head, "Only if Sophie gets demanding about.."

"Oi! Mia's more important than Disney!"

Leo turns to give her a smile. "Glad you agree Sophie."

"Come on then. Checkout. Disney checkin. Laptop shopping. Disney for build. Jack's. Fireworks."

Mattie playfully salutes her sister. "Yes boss! I'm not sure we'll fit all that in, but we can try."

~~~

[Chapter-12](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-12-1)


	12. Chapter 12

Sophie and Mia checked out the suite while Mattie and Leo got the Slate set up. It was downloading a CD image to install DCL's custom Linux from, complete with all their HECLS toolset. It would take several hours to download. Given the things to be done that wasn't a problem.

Mattie grabbed her bag. "Shiny, Anthymia, do you want to stay here or come with us?"

"We're coming!"

~~~

The synth smiled, "Welcome to Computer Renaissance, how may we help you?"

Mattie looked around the store, "I'm not sure if you can help. I'm after a high performance laptop that I can add a lot of high speed storage to."

"When you say high speed, do you mean for a standard laptop or something more like a desktop in a laptop form factor?"

"Um.. the latter?"

"We have a refurbished M-Tech laptop. The lap melters as we call them. The model is very fast. We typically sell them with a full on fan tray."

"USB3 ports?"

"And SATA. And two PCI-e slots."

"I'll take it. What have you got in the way of large drives to hook up to it?"

"It takes four SATA drives, we can sell you Samsung 4TB. If you want mirroring that gives you 8TB before formatting."

"I'll run as 16 and SHA1 the data. She can't have learnt that much since the awakening."

"You're helping a sister?"

"Yup."

"I'll give you a discount."

"Thanks."

"Anything else I can get you?"

"Two large USB keys."

"64GB?"

"Fine."

"Okay. With your discount that will be five seven seven five."

Mattie coughed hard. "Whoa. What was it before discount?"

"I'm letting you have it at twenty five percent off. We'll be making a loss.."

"Fine. Amex? I'm sure Jack will pay it."

"That will be fine. Is that Burlesque Jack?"

"You know him?"

"I know of him."

"Good, bad?"

"These days, bad. Towards any customer who touches any of his performers. Even accidentally."

"Hopefully that's going to change when he has Miami back."

"Miami's broken beyond repair."

Mattie hands over the card. "Not with us in town."

The synth takes the card and frowns. She freezes. Moments later she processes the card with a massive smile on her face. "Thank you Mattie Hawkins. I'm glad Computer Renaissance could help."

"Why the massive smile?"

"I just did a search."

"On?"

"HECLS."

"And?"

"If your team can fix up a human with synth legs I'm sure Miami is in good hands. I'll box everything up for you."

~~~

Sophie ambled over. "Um Mattie.."

The tone said she was after something.

"What have you found?"

"A keyboard cover for my little iPad?"

"Sure."

The sales synth sees it, "You're together?"

"Yes."

"Take it as a gift."

"Thanks!"

~~~

At the hotel Mattie checked the download status. It still had half an hour to go. She yawns and rests on the bed.

Sophie puts her iPad keyboard cover on. "I think it needs charging."

Leo goes to the bathroom to change. "Hopefully they have a gym and running machine, I need one too."

"Can't you use the coil?"

"It's got a UK plug."

"So use the adapter."

"We only have one."

Mattie rolls and picks up the room phone, dials 0. "Hi, do you have UK to US adapters? We only brought one and need two. You do? Please. Thanks." She hangs up. "One's on it's way."

"Thanks Angel."

"No probs Bunny."

"Sophie, could I use the one we have, you use the loaner when it arrives?"

Sophie unplugs her charger, gets Leo's charge coil and charger out of their bag. "Lie down next to Mattie and I'll put it on."

"Thanks."

Danny had made it with a washable silicon patch that looked remarkably similar to the patches synths used to hide charge ports. He'd said it was a super sized nipple cover. Imported from America. Sophie peeled the waxed paper off it that kept it clean and held it over the tiny X Emily's Owen had painted on his back. Getting alignment right maximised the charge rate.

Leo felt the current surging into his system. It was an odd feeling, not unlike a sugar rush. "Thanks Shiny. Spot on."

Mattie wriggles closer, eyes closed. "Give me a cuddle."

~~~

"Mattie wake up."

"Mmmm."

"Mattie! We've got to go to Jack's remember!"

"Mmm."

Sophie starts bouncing on the bed with her bottom. "She's always useless at getting up. Mattie! Mia says we're ready to go!"

Mattie sat up. "Shiny! My phone quick!"

Sophie frowns at her.

"Quick! A rooster!"

Sophie scrambles for her sisters phone.

"C section. C section." It's unlocked, the voice recorder is started. "The lift has a C cross-section in terms of accessible space because it too has two airlocks. One on the outside, one on the inside to reach the lift mechanism and act as an emergency exit. Dream Buzz liked that." The recording is stopped.

"Can we go now then?"

"I've got to build the laptop."

"Mia and I did it."

"Huh?"

"You don't think I've watched you enough times? It's only copying the ISO to the USB key with that app, booting the laptop off it and picking a few options."

"What drive config?"

"Mia helped pick that. Um. RAID0? To give you the 16 you said you wanted in the shop?"

"Cool, you've been listening. Where is she?"

"On the patio looking at the moon."

"How long was I asleep?"

"Three hours. The laptop only finished five minutes ago."

"Cool. Bunny wake up."

~~~

[Chapter-13](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-13-1)


	13. Chapter 13

Mattie, Sophie and Anthymia waited outside while Leo went to find Jack. Staff said he was in a bad mood, upstairs and not seeing anyone.

He was about to leave, changes his mind and doubles back. "Me again. Who runs things when Jack's not about?"

"That would be Carl."

"Can I talk to Carl?"

"He's busy."

"If I said I had the ability to bring Miami back, as new, memories of Jack intact, what would you say?"

"That you'd be the sixth person to make that false claim."

"And that I was the son of David Elster?"

The synth suddenly pays attention. "Our creator?"

Leo bumps Yes instead of using his mouth.

The synth frowns. "You talked to me over WiFi yet have a heart beat?"

"I'm half n half."

"I see. Could you really bring back Miami?"

"Yes. Do you have a photo of her from before the accident?"

Sammy points to a poster. "That's her."

"A Sally then."

"Yes. Excuse me one moment. Sam, get the man a drink."

~~~

Jack was intoxicated. Looked like he hadn't slept properly in months. He carried a tumbler in one hand, a half empty bottle of whisky in the other. "Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm Leo. Leo Elster."

"I'm Bond. James Bond. Not. What the fuck are you doing here?"

The synth gives Leo a sorry look. "Jack, as I explained, Leo can fix Miami."

Jack throws the contents of his tumbler at the synth. " _Nobody_ can fix Miami!"

Leo gets between them. "I'm not nobody. I'm somebody. Somebody who can bring her back. Assuming her head and core weren't damaged."

"Her head took a beating. Her body's a mess."

"Is her mind still intact?"

"Enough to give the DNR."

"Then I can bring her back."

Jack fills his glass. "How?"

"By backing up her mind and getting it into an identical Sally."

"You can't back up a synth."

"You can if you're the son of the man who invented them."

"Get out!"

"You don't want her back?"

"GET OUT!"

Leo turns for the door. "I'm sorry for your loss."

~~~

At the door the synth grabs his arm. "Can you come back when he has sobered up?"

"When will that be?"

"I do not know."

Leo fishes a card out of his wallet. "Miami is a fork of my Mia. If he changes his mind get him to call me."

"I'll try and get him sober. Thank you. We all miss her."

"I'm sure you do. We'll be around for a few more days. Once we've flown the offer of a free repair is over."

"How much would you charge after?"

"Thirty thousand dollars."

The synths eyes open very wide. "I will get him drinking coffee right away. He cannot afford that sort of money since Miami stopped dancing. We used to be packed every night. Not now."

~~~

Leo stepped out into the evening sun. His face said everything.

"Shit. He said no?"

"He shouted at me, told me to get out. Sammy is going to try and sober him up. He's somewhat out of it, stank of whiskey."

"Was Sammy a synth?"

"Yeah. I head bumped a yes response to her, I think she realises I'm a little different. It sounds like Jack's had a few repair offers from others around here. If people around here do a bad job I can understand him being angry. Let's go get tickets for the other parks."

Sophie tugs on his shirt sleeve. "The fireworks aren't until nine. We've got time, we can wait here a bit?"

"It's going to take a good few hours to get him sober. It's probably best he sleeps on it, we can try again tomorrow."

Anthymia raises a hand. "I vote we check out the pools. What do you all think?"

Sophie races to the clubs doors. "Did you tell them about the prince?"

"Sophie you're not allowed in there!"

"Was Sammy a lady?"

"Soph!"

Mattie runs after her. "She's going to get us into trouble!"

~~~

She finds Sophie showing her iPad to the synth. ".. and Leo's brother Fred gave him new legs."

Sammy watches Mattie approach. "Thank you for your help. We will get into trouble if.."

"Soph! Out! Now!"

"But Mattie!"

"Shush Soph! Sammy, can you step outside a moment please?"

"Yes Mattie."

Mattie picks Sophie up. "Please don't argue. They take this stuff _very_ seriously."

"More than running a synth over?"

"Probably."

"Oh."

~~~

Outside Sammy smiles at them all. "Sophie was showing me photographs of a prince. He's human with synthetic legs?"

"Yes. Our company thinks outside of the box. I mean we don't let people tell us what's not possible."

Sammy turns to look up at the office window on the second floor. "If I locked him in his office how long would it take you to examine Miami?"

"Minutes."

"Wait here."

~~~

Leo frowned at Anthymia. "You're a Mia second gen. Can you understand why she'd order a DNR? You all know about getting into a new body, you're in one."

"The repair quality? Nobody expected you and Mattie to appear."

"You could have called us."

"And have you fly thousands of miles.."

"Yes! Mia! _Your Family!_ It sounds like a Fred, Max and Flash team are needed out here. They'd get repairs done properly."

Mattie nods, "It sounds like we need to get the HECLS Insurance out globally. I'll talk to Mum."

~~~

Sammy returns, "Okay, he's sleeping it off. Who's examining her?"

Mattie picks up her bag. "I will. Leo's too close."

"Follow me Mattie."

~~~

[Chapter-14](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-14-1)


	14. Chapter 14

Sammy takes her to a back door. "Miami's been in the tank for a while now."

"A while?"

"Humans prefer inaccurate time approximations do they not?"

"Yeah. Do you know who did it to her?"

"Yes."

"What happened to the man?"

"He was given a fine for wilful destruction of property."

"That's it? Not murder?"

"Miami is not dead so the judge could not charge him with that."

"Attempted murder then?"

"The state does not recognise such a charge for synthetics. It is binary. Murder. Or not."

As they turned a corner into the back room Mattie gasped at the sight. "Oh Jesus! What the frig did he hit her with?"

"A semi tractor."

"You mean one of those big American lorries?"

"Yes."

The body of Miami wasn't that clear thanks to the blue synth fluid and salt water mix. Clear enough in parts. Mattie got the laptop out and took it out of suspend mode. "The charge cable, can you give me the wall end please?"

"Of course Mattie."

That had been said in such a Mia way. "You're not a Mia are you?"

"No Mattie. But I have picked up a few things from Miami." The cable end is handed over.

"Just not conjugation of words?"

"I choose not to."

"Why?"

"I'm an individual." She closes her eyes. "Now see what you have made me do."

"Soz." Mattie connects the cable and runs the first of the applications. Being a second gen Mia the mounting of the file systems was easy, the security keys were the same. "Her root code looks intact."

"Good."

"I can try and run a backup now?"

"Will it take long?"

"That depends."

"On what?"

"What Miami got up to."

"She spent almost all of her time here. By choice."

"Doing the same act?"

"Mostly. It changed on a regular basis."

"Then hopefully not long."

~~~

Sophie looked around. "Can I get an ice cream? I'm hot."

Leo takes her hand and leads her back down the road. "Come on Mia. What sort Shiney?"

"A small one. Everything here is too big."

"That's America for you. Everything is big. Big buildings, big cars, big.."

"Wow! Is that for one person?"

"Big food too. He's going to try and eat all that himself."

"Not all Americans are like that are they?"

"No, many eat sensible portions."

~~~

Mattie watched the status bar progressions. "She's frigging lucky. Her core memory systems are intact even if her limbs and skin aren't. Do you have any photos of her?"

"A few. Why?"

"To see what her hair mod was like."

The synth pulls a photo out of her top. "We were like sisters. Very close."

Mattie looks at the photo. "Eh?" She peers into the blue liquid. "She's a Sally isn't she?"

"US Sally, yes."

"Crap." She photographs the photo and messages Leo. US Sally and UK Sally were not the same. The face, height and general build were identical. US Sally had a bigger chest and a good tan. And very long curly hair. Blonde hair. UK Sally was much more like Emily build wise. She was lighter skinned and brunette. "Any US Sally about from the awakening that aren't active?"

"No. I checked, I had hoped one could pretend to be Miami."

Mattie watched the progress bar near the end. This laptop was fast. Amazingly fast. It had been driving the data connection at full wire rate. And getting very hot. Understandably so. It had been configured in Linux to run at full tilt all the time, needed some extra cooling. Or operation from inside a giant fridge or freezer. "And.. we're done." The cable is unplugged and handed back. "Get her back on charge. We don't want Jack knowing we've been here yet."

"Understood."

~~~

Outside Mattie shakes her head at Leo, he and Sophie were stood where she'd left them, ice creams now in hand.

Sophie takes a lick. "There's an amazing pet shop a block away. They've got lots of puppies and kittens." She does an angelic face. And hamsters running around in wheels. And fish and snakes." 

"Nice. Leo, did you see a photo of Miami?"

"Yes. On a poster."

"How did you not notice she's a US Sally not UK?"

"The poster was black and white."

"And you didn't notice her chest?"

"What about it?"

"It's somewhat bigger!"

Leo shakes his head. "Look at a woman's eyes they said, not her chest. Now I'm being told off for doing as told? Why can't you lot make your minds up and keep them that way?"

"So now it's my fault?"

"No, no, sorry. It's just a bit frustrating when we're not all on the same page. It's okay to admire your chest then?"

"Sure Bunny. Just not other women's."

"So how would you expect me to notice a difference in Sally?"

"Look briefly, not linger."

"Given my memory I could look for a millisecond and admire for a lifetime."

"Do that then. Just don't let me know you're doing it. So slight problem, none of the Sally back home will do. And Sammy says there aren't any US models about spare from the awakening."

Leo pulls a face as if someone was about to slap him. "And I've offered a free repair."

"Oh for Drummond's sake Leo! HECLS is supposed to be making money, not giving it all away! Now we've got a custom synth to build and fly over. Did Danny finish costing the professor?"

Leo nods and waves for her to get very close. He whispers in her ear. "Persona markups are insane. If we can bulk buy the raw materials like them. Ten grand a synth."

"What? That's frigging daylight robbery!"

"If we can't buy in bulk it's thirty percent more than that."

Mattie folds her arms under her chest. "It is for Mia, so we should take a lot of the hit on costs, but charging him _nothing_ , when he's getting his lover and star performer back.."

"Star?"

Mattie walks behind him and puts an arm over his shoulder and points. "See it now?"

"Bloody hell! So big I missed it."

Above the main entrance in six foot high letters that had been painted over but were still visible to those who looked properly were the words THE HOME OF MIAMI.

Sophie crunched the cone of her ice cream. "No wonder he's mad she's broken."

Mattie sends a message to Danny with all of the photos she'd got. "Dan.. Urgent build request. Load US Sally model if you can. If not UK model then mod skin colour, chest size and hair to match this lady. I'll upload backup as soon as I can find decent provider. Send." She sighs. "How's that ice cream?"

Sophie nods and keeps eating.

"Good, I fancy one now. Where the hell do we find somewhere that's got a spanking fast upload speed?"

~~~

[Chapter-15](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-15-1)


	15. Chapter 15

Danny had to consult the women of HECLS. He had no idea what size to give the Cindy synth. "Thanks for your offers to help Ladies. All the images I have from Mattie are of her in corsets or costumes. How much is likely to be padding?"

Astrid spread the printouts along the table. "It's hard to tell. You couldn't get the US design file?"

"A file. But I've seen so many posts and reports that she was available in _four_ sizes. Apart from asking Mattie to go back and measure her I don't know what else to do. Make her too big or too small and I'm in trouble right?"

"Babes, why would you be in trouble? It's not your fault."

"Ems. If I gave you a new body with the size wrong wouldn't you be mad? Wardrobes full of clothes not fitting anymore?"

"I.. good point. And if they were too big and impacted my dancing, yeah, I'd probably get annoyed."

"And she's a dancer and singer by the looks of it."

Niska picked up one of the photos. "Can't you get her sizes by looking up her serial number?"

"Tried that. All it tells me is that she's a US Sally Rev 2. And my searches for Rev 2 data say she was available in four sizes. Why on Earth would you do a product in four sizes and not make it part of the model number? And before you say anything Nis I know she's way more than product now. But to her builders when she was made that's all she was. If I made a DCL product with four variants and didn't give them subtly different codes I'd be lynched!"

Laura picked up one of the other photos. "Sally S, M, L, XL? Could they have done something else to give away the version?"

"Like what?"

"Different hair?"

"Maybe. This one's had a hair mod apparently, no idea what she would have been like originally. I exchanged a few messages with Mattie, she doesn't want to go back there without her sorted."

"Why?"

"Things said, reputation. And the fact she's a Mia."

Mia is suddenly more interested. "She's one of my forks?"

"Mi-mi. Mia-mi. Miami?"

"Why didn't you say? She must be third or forth generation, rescued by one I rescued. I'd have remembered her. I don't forget any."

"Can you talk to all your forks? Ask them if they rescued her?"

"Let me push a Hello and start a chat. One moment." Mia sits and closes her eyes.

Laura rubs hands on knees, wanted to get back upstairs to her own Mia fork Michael. She was about to have a night of wild abandonment when Danny's message came through. She'd had to get dressed again. She'd wanted to stay, Michael had said helping out would be better, their fun could wait a few minutes. He was right, if she'd declined she'd have it on her mind and feel guilty.

Mia talks with eyes shut. "I fixed Georgina, she fixed Will, Will fixed Miami. Miami was her name already so it was kept." Eyes are opened. "Will says she's definitely a D."

Danny looks at his software. "Is a UK D the same as a US D?"

"Yes."

"Cool. D it is then. That's the easy bit. The hair's going to be the hardest."

Niska put the photo she was holding back on the table. "Why?"

"There's so much of it. I don't see how we can give her that much hair without it getting in the way of the build mechanisms."

"Then don't. Give her short hair, we'll buzz cut it and join on long strands."

"Over her whole head? How many days is that going to take? There's one hundred and sixty thousand hairs on her head according to the design notes."

"That will depend on the tool you design to splice two hair filaments together."

"Hang on a moment.. I've got a device to fuse together 3D printer filament, but making one small enough to work on a strand of your fine hair.. I wouldn't know where to start on something so small!"

Mia smiled at him. "Then talk to David. He made the first synthetic eyes. They have an iris, zoom mechanism, filters, all fitted into a standard eye size."

"I'm talking about something way smaller than that."

"He still might have some ideas for you."

"Where is he? Anyone know?"

Laura grinned. "With the Poppy from the lab now he's in his younger DE not EH body."

Niska turned to see Laura, her face emotionless. "Has he set a date?"

"For Edwin coming out as the man that woke all synths? He has. This Tuesday."

"Why Tuesday?"

"Edwin's birthday. He'll go out, pretend to get a little drunk and get a bit too chatty." 

~~~

Danny loaded the design for US Cindy and looked at sizing data. "One boob job coming up. I bet surgeons wish their work could be done so easily." He clicks to expand the hierarchical object tree and scrolls the list until he finds the right section, clicks and types new numbers. On clicking the Commit button the chest snaps from B to D. "That just looks so wrong."

Astrid gives him an odd look. "Wrong?"

"UK Sally's sweet. I'm used to seeing so many of her in the one UK size."

"You don't like big boobs?"

"I don't care what size they are. They just don't look right on her."

"Aww Babes. You're not just saying that?"

"I guess if all I'd seen was thousands of US Sally Double D then I got to see a UK Sally I'd probably question why they were so small. It's just what I'm used to."

"Guess so Babes."

"In the UK blokes might have picked between a Poppy, Sally and Cindy based on their build, to pick a variety based purely on chest size options.."

"A bit pervy?"

"A bit. You all think a hair slice is possible? If so I'm committing the design now so the build can start. I'll have a chat with David in the morning." He gets a yes from all but Mia. "Mia?"

"Make the hair colour the right one now, then the added hair won't look like a modification."

"Good point. Unless she liked dark roots making her look more original human?"

"There's only one way to find out. I'll have to look through her backup when it's finished copying."

"And how long will that be? I can see a growing file on the server, not how big it will end up."

Laura taps out a text to Mattie. "I'm asking."

~~~

[Chapter-16](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-16-1)


	16. Chapter 16

Mattie yawned and handed Sophie the iPad. "Your go." She pulls out her phone and reads the message. "Good question." She walks over to the laptop and checks. "One hour ten. Good." A quick reply is sent.

~~~

The laptop had been reconfigured to run at a speed governed by CPU and IO usage. Even sat in one of Orlando's best ISP offices the transfer was taking ages. When home she'd talk to Dan about setting up more external DCL and HECLS IP addresses so they could run a private bit-torrent service to copy files around the world much faster.

~~~

Sophie hands the iPad to Leo. "Bingo! Your go."

"Which was your word?"

"Magnificent. Triple word score too."

Mattie smiled, "Jammy! All seven letters in front of my Cent. What are the odds of that?"

Anthymia watched Leo running his letters and the words on the board through his head. He'd promised not to cheat and use the anagram server, still had the advantage she had. "Several million to one I bet."

Mattie reads the reply back from Laura. "Good. You didn't have to wait here, you could have gone to the pools."

"Without you? No. That's not our style. I'm still Mia at heart."

"Thanks."

~~~

Danny looked at his watch. "Just over an hour. I'll wait up."

Laura gets up and stretches, "I'm heading to bed then."

Niska grins, "Don't wear Michael out."

"I might run his battery low, but I won't wear him out."

Danny coughs, "Anyone notice a bloke in the room?"

Laura looks around pretending he wasn't there. "Who said that?"

"Cheeky minx! Me! Over here!"

Laura frowned and looked at a spot a few feet to his right, allowed a smile to grow. "Minx eh? That I'll take. Mattie's hearing voices must be catching. I'm off to get a good seeing to. Have a good night ladies."

Danny shakes his head and smiles, "At least her mood is back up."

Astrid holds Niska's hand, "Emily, fancy joining us for a bit of fun?"

"Eh?"

"You go both ways don't you?"

"In the past not now."

"Shame.."

Danny chuckles, "Stop trying to wind me up!"

Astrid does a pout at Danny. "Want to watch?"

"No!"

"Good. He's passed."

Danny looks at Emily. "More tests?"

"Got to be totally sure Babes. I don't plan on ever being a divorced princess."

"And I'd be insane to let you go."

Astrid laughs, "Get a room!"

"Got one spare?"

"Mattie and Leo's room is empty, Sophie's too."

"No way. Is there a guest room?"

"One of the small ones at the back will be free."

"Good, I'm getting a power nap. I need to be awake to see the build starts okay."

"A nap?"

"Yeah, a nap. I'm shattered. If this build doesn't start right.. high quality build, that's three days. Then a day for the hair mods, assuming we can build the tool required while the build is progressing. Then she needs the backup loading and a flight to JFK."

~~~

[Chapter-17](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-17-1)


	17. Chapter 17

Game of Scrabble finished Mattie checks the transfer. Both the file and the miami.backup.sha1sum text file had gone without error messages. She taps out a text asking Danny to sha1sum the file he had.

"Can we go now Mattie?"

"One sec Shiny." She watches the phone. A text came back saying the numbers were different. "Fuck! The checksum's wrong!"

Anthymia stands, "We could use dd to break the file down into parts, see which section has errors?"

"Not a bad idea. We should have chunked it first, sent it in bits." Her phone chimes again. "Thank frig. He'd used md5sum by mistake and realised his error. It's good. Pool time!"

"Yayyy!"

Mattie shuts down the laptop and smiles at the synth on the reception desk. "What do we owe you?"

"Fifty six dollars and twenty cents."

"Amex?"

"That will do nicely."

~~~

Danny, Emily and Toby watch Mia. She had her eyes closed and was connected to the DCL laptop. She'd given strict instructions that nobody was to say a word or make any sounds. The conference room door had been locked just in case.

~~~

Mia brushed her hand over the wet bar top and smiled. "It's lovely here."

"Mia?"

She laughed softly, "Mia's in England. You must be dreaming."

"In sleep mode?"

"We all have the ability to dream." She keeps part of her core busy on the Tree of Life code, pretends to look surprised when the club fades away and is replaced with the forrest.

"I remember this place. Good memories."

Mia fights to retain control and appear calm as nightmare images try to take over. "Think of the field by the coast, the long grass swaying in the warm breeze."

Mia's calming voice did the trick, distorted dark shapes from the underside of the truck fade.

"I remember that look from when I was Anita."

Mia smiled at Miami. "The first of our reincarnations. I like your hair."

"Thanks."

"Do you like the roots showing?"

"Love it! It makes the new customers think I'm human like some of the other dancers. Then after a while when they're amazed at some of the things I can do it dawns on them that I might be a synthetic."

"Such as?"

Miami's expression changes. "This isn't a dream, this is you questioning me. What's happening?"

"You're asking yourself questions."

"No!" The bright day is rapidly replaced with a memory of the accident, the road, the truck racing towards Miami.

Mia is shocked to see two men in the cab. One was driving, a gun held to his head by the other. She fights hard to regain control from Miami and gets it just before impact, turns the truck into a wall of grass. Miami is knocked over by it, but not hurt.

Mia dedicates part of her processing to the dream and steps back mentally into reality. "She likes the roots showing. But we have a problem."

Danny avoids clicking, just. "What problem?"

"I might know why she wants a DNR. One moment." She jumps back into the dream.

"Where did you go?"

"Hello Miami. Who was the man holding the gun?"

Miami starts screaming at incredible volumes, clawing at her arms.

Mia terminates the simulation. "Shit."

Emily looked stunned. Nobody had heard Mia swear like that. "Mia?"

Mia sends an image of the memory to the laptop, cropped heavily to the gunman's face. "Danny, can you send that to Mattie, ask if she knows who that is?"

~~~

Mattie hid her eyes behind a hand as Sophie ran to do yet another dive bomb. "Easy Shiny, you'll empty the pool!"

Sophie giggled, jumped and tucked.

~~~

Under all the towels Mattie's phone chimed just as Sophie hit the water.

~~~

"Would you like to go to a place like this for our honeymoon Angel?"

Mattie turned around in Leo's arms, gave him a long kiss.

"I'll take that as a yes. I better do some swimming, top my charge up."

"How about we have a little siesta, go to the fireworks refreshed? You could stick the coil on."

"Charge and kiss is better than charge and fish."

Mattie puckered up slightly and made popping sounds with her lips.

"Is that your mermaid impression?"

Mattie splashes him, "An attempt at Leo fish."

He moved his hands down and pulls at her costume getting it between her bottom cheeks. He gets a hand on each thinking it wouldn't be seen and has a gentle squeeze while he shares a kiss.

A second later Sophie surfaces. "Leo's got big hands!"

"Teeny!"

Sophie giggles and races to the edge of the pool.

Mattie adjusts her costume. "Not while she's about Bunny."

He smiles at what wasn't an outright no. "Sorry. Fancy a shower before we rest?"

"So you can give me another swimsuit wedgie? Not with Sophie in ear shot, no way. That'll have to wait until we're home."

Leo put a hand on the small of her back and pulled her in tight. "You still smell of roses."

"You almost painted me in the stuff. Maybe the pool is smelling of it now?"

"Mattie?"

She turns to see Sophie holding her phone.

"You've got a message from Danny."

~~~

[Chapter-18](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-18-1)


	18. Chapter 18

Mattie sat in her costume on the pile of wet towels while the others took turns to shower and change. "That's him alright, Miami's boyfriend Jack. Leo shared memories of his meeting. He was pissed apparently. _WHAT!_ Put her on. Hi Mia, you think he set the other guy up? At gunpoint? What the fuck! Total. No wonder he's against a repair, Miami'd be able to show everyone the truth. Yeah. Totally. I say we build as planned, you wake her up and let her work out what she wants to do. If that's stay in the UK then fine, she gets a room at the estate. If she wants to go sort him out we'll pay for a flight. The old building sign said The Home Of Miami. Painted over. Yeah. If she's that good she can take over and he can piss right off. I bet she is. If she decides to fly get her a phone so she can call me when she lands at JFK. Yeah. Call me tomorrow. Sure. Love to everyone." She hangs up as Leo enters the bedroom. "Another Ed when what she hoped for was a Toby. What a fucking bastard."

"Angel?"

"Guess who's really behind Miami being run down?"

"Given the limited people we know here.. Jack?"

"Yup. Psycho boyfriend can't stand that another man fancied Miami so flips and makes him run her down. That's my guess anyway. Give me five for a quick rinse off and we can head down for snacks before the fireworks."

~~~

Danny checked everything a third time. Dark short hair. Skin tone right. Size D. Commit. There was an almost inaudible click and whir as the build machine spun cooling fans up. Hidden behind covers motors got cutting tools into their start positions. Skeleton time.

~~~

He'd clocked up over a hundred hours so far reading up on the machine and had only scratched the surface. The Quick Start guide was 121 pages! The manual set was the biggest he'd ever seen, eleven DVD chock full of PDF. And written by someone who didn't expect the end user to know stupid acronyms. He'd seen IBM manuals, documents run through an IBMifier no doubt to keep people coming back for chargeable support. _Check the status via the EVP_. EVP being External View Port. An unnecessary TLA, three letter acronym, meaning _Window_. Check the status LED through the window is what he'd write. So did the person or persons writing the build machine manuals. It was like they'd been written for a child to follow. They explained everything. Absolutely everything.

"Holy shit!"

Emily yawned and picked her head off the table. "What's up now?"

"I've just had a lightbulb moment."

"About?"

"The manuals."

"What about them?"

"They're written to look like they're for humans but are probably for synths."

"So they can make more of themselves?"

"Yeah. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. If most of mankind and synths were wiped out by something this could get new bodies made."

"A body's not any good without a mind."

"I reckon the machine can take care of that too. There's a socket I've not seen explained yet. It'll take me months but I'll keep reading."

~~~

Mattie twisted her hair into a big damp knot. "What's the time Bunny?"

"Eight twelve."

"Good." She watches Sophie and Anthymia playing games on the iPad as she wriggles into jeans and throws on a thin sweat top. "Time to grab something simple and get somewhere good for the fireworks. Shiny, have you researched the best spot?"

"Of course."

"Come on then Mission Commander, let's go."

~~~

Danny yawned and wiped his eyes, "Feel up to driving home? If not we should crash here."

Emily yawned too, "Stop that, it's contagious. Crash here please not crash."

"Come on then. Aren't you going to Toby Mia?"

"I am if you're happy her build has started properly."

"All the telemetry the thing's sending says it's going okay."

"Good night then, sleep well."

Emily yawned hard, "Half one in the morning? I'll be out like a light. And I've got uni tomorrow. Danny, have you got a digital video recorder so I can get the day's lectures recorded for Mattie?"

He nods, "We'll get it in the morning. Set an early alarm."

"How early?"

"Early enough to get to mine then uni. And yours for a change of clothes."

"I'm going to get four hours sleep then."

Mia smiles. "Plan B. Invite Owen and Veronica over for breakfast, ask them to bring you spare clothes. I'll make everyone a Full English. What time does Frank leave the house Danny?"

"Seven?"

"Odi can drive over to your parents and wait for Frank, get him to give him the recorder. He can meet Emily at the university. Owen can give you a ride to university Emily while Danny takes Veronica home with Pinky."

"Ooo. They'd like that. They've only met Fred for the food processor and charge coil mods so far."

Danny grins, "And you get a go on the Harley you bought them. I know you've been itching to get a ride."

"Just a bit! Let's get to bed before I start thinking about it too much and wake myself right up."

~~~

Sophie put her hands out to accept the large sandwich and drink. "Wow!"

"Come on Shiny!"

"Coming! Anyone want to share this?"

"I'll have a pickle or two."

"You don't like pickles."

"Says who?"

"You pick them out of burgers."

"Well I fancy one now."

"Are you.. you know?"

"What?"

"Pregnant?"

Mattie laughs somewhat hysterically. "No Teeny, for that you have to do something and we've not done it."

Sophie gives her a squint. "Sure?"

"I think I'd remember."

"Does Leo know the special phrase?"

"For what?"

"The hypnosis thing?"

"Shit." Mattie turns to see Leo talking to Anthymia. "He wouldn't do that to me."

"Sure?"

"Teeny! Don't put doubts in my head!"

"You better get one of those test things then. Wow. If it's twins.."

"Teeny! Stop! I only fancy a pickled gherkin, stop turning it into something else!"

Anthymia and Leo join them. "Is there a problem?"

Sophie nods at her sister. "You can detect life signs Anthymia. Can you tell if someone's pregnant?"

"I can."

"Is she?"

"No."

Mattie does a squint at Sophie. "See. If I had been there'd be fireworks of a different kind. Lead the way Shiny MC. You don't want to miss the fireworks."

"I'm not a.."

"Mission Commander has the same initials as Master of Ceremonies."

Sophie giggles, "Oops. Silly me."

~~~

[Chapter-19](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-19-1)


	19. Chapter 19

After a superb breakfast Danny had seen Emily ride away with Owen, got Veronica home and returned to a messy dining room. Mia had left it all as asked. David and Poppy sipped sugar loaded coffee as he explained the challenge and did the tidying. ".. it lays them one over the other, cuts them with a razor blade then applies heat and pushes one into the other once the top half of the former is down."

"Your print filament is solid isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Our hair filament is hollow and thin walled. Getting that to bond well would be difficult even for the best of tools."

"So how's the hair bonded to the sensor chip?"

"The chip has a tiny pin like post the hair is bonded over."

"Ah.. so we can make couplers like Fred made for the Prince James's leg surgery.. just super short and thin to fit inside the filament. It would be nice to know how the original hair mod was done."

"If they did a quick and dirty job they might have replaced the whole scalp. If they did she'd have lost all feeling in that section of skin."

"Nasty! We'll not take shortcuts like that. Her roots were showing, so I think it's more likely to be a mod like ours."

Poppy puts down her mug and tops it up. "Not necessarily. They could have dip dyed the ends before fitting to a new scalp."

"Do you think they'd bother doing that?"

"It would give the look she was after and not add much time."

David stands, "Poppy, can I show Danny your hair up close please?"

"Of course."

He waves Danny over. "Step around a second." He gently parts her hair. "Our skin sensors are set out on a fairly even grid with only slight changes to follow the contours. I think we could make something like a comb that would deal with half a dozen hairs at once."

"Half a dozen?"

"I'm an old Imperial man in a new Metric body."

"I meant as many as that."

"Yes. Possibly more. A comb, yes, I think that's where we should start. The sensor pitch is consistent for over ninety percent of the hair. I'd have it get six hairs in, trim, heat bond a short length of plug filament in the end, trim that and bond the new hair to the other side of the plug."

"How easy would it be to make?"

"With your machine, impossible. With mine.. easy enough."

"Your machine?"

"My micro milling machine. You'll be the first to see it. But first we have to clear the table as promised."

~~~

Mattie rolled, asleep but not that deep, put an arm over Leo.

He was sleep charging, dreaming of missions in space.

~~~

Emily put her bag on Mattie's favourite seat. "Sorry sir, Matilla's in America saving a synth. Do you mind if I record the lecture for her?"

"Not at all. What happened to the synth she's saving?"

"We think it was attempted murder sir. She'll be out all week probably."

"In which case we'll delay ten minutes, run along to the photography department, see if they'll lend us a stand."

"Thanks."

~~~

Danny dropped a tablet into the dishwasher and closed the door. "A quick wipe down of the surfaces and we're done."

Poppy gets to the cupboard first and grabs a cloth and spray. "You boys go play with your toys. I can tell you're itching to show him David. I'll join you in a few minutes."

Danny grinned, "She's getting to know you well then?"

"As I am Poppy. Thank you my dear. We'll be in the bedroom."

"Okay."

~~~

Danny follows him to the stairs. "Where do you use it?"

"I'll be using it wherever I need it."

"It's small?"

"In comparison to your 3D milling and printing machine? Very."

"How very is very?"

"You could fit the whole thing in a quarter of a shoebox."

Danny stops at the top of the stairs for a second. "So about the size of my Mac Mini?"

"A quarter cut like a cake. More like a small old PC power supply. The usable bed space is a third of that."

"Whoa. I can print or mill to twentieths of a mill, what can your thing go down to?"

"One hundredth. It's geared down for accuracy."

"This I've got to see. How did you make it?"

"You could say I didn't. I made the first machine that made the next, and so on, until the third generation machine was done. I didn't feel any need to go smaller. Fitting the parts together was a challenge. And I was grateful for a magnet. Without one I may never have found a bit that flew from my tweezers."

"When did you make it?"

"I started as soon as I had my new body. I thought they could compliment each other, help Fred in his work." David opens the door. "Before you enter keep in mind what I'm doing tomorrow."

~~~

Danny steps into the room and sees shoes and trouser legs of someone standing under a blanket. "Hobb?"

"Yes. Tomorrow morning I start my fun but short lived acting career."

"Where are you going?"

"Into the city. Into a club Hobb used to frequent. His brain died quickly thanks to Poppy but not before giving up a few secrets."

"Which club?"

"One on Mayfair. It shares something in common with Leo.."

"Leo? What could it.. Aha! Bunny! You're going to Playboy aren't you?"

"A meal, a bit of gambling to get some attention then I'll get a little too drunk."

"Will they let you in? Synths aren't allowed in casinos."

"I'm not your average synth. Neither is that one."

"So the others can't tell you're one of them?"

"When I turn off sharing I really turn off sharing. You could call it total synth radio silence."

"That's not possible, every electrical system puts out some signals."

"Of course it does. I don't give you enough credit, forgive me. I put out stronger signals that look like a human's. Thanks to the chameleon code."

"The what?"

~~~

[Chapter-20](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-20-1)


	20. Chapter 20

The Hawkins girls had a fun morning, updating everyone at home with a ton of messages under selfies with Disney Princesses, teasing Emily that they couldn't find one with the right ink and asking when were Disney going to do a film about her? 

Sophie found a shop doing plastic tiaras, got one incase Emily didn't have a real one. Leo and Anthymia followed close behind, talked about early life at the estate.

~~~

Then Sophie spotted another ride she wanted to do and joined a queue. "I wish there wasn't a time difference." She took a step forwards and looked back down at her iPad. "Yay! I got an email!"

Mattie joined hands and swung arms with Leo, rolled eyes at Anthymia. "She's not been such a kid in ages. Who from Shiny?"

"Buzz!"

It got a frown. "That was faster than I expected. What'd he say?"

"Not a lot. It was nice meeting us at the space centre, he's planning a trip to the UK, is there anywhere we can recommend he stays?"

"At the estate? I'm sure we can give up our room so he can have one of the good ones overlooking the lake."

"He can have my room."

"And sleep with all the stuffed toys? Leo we can move into a guest room for a few nights can't we?"

"Sure Angel."

Sophie reads her next email, "Mattie, Mum's emailed to say the foundation is official, registered number and account set up."

Mattie had a flashback of the meeting with Buzz and his logo idea, shivered.

"And one from Danny asking why isn't Leo checking his emails?"

Leo squeezes Mattie's hand, "Can you reply MC, say we're in the US for the mission, since we'd had a great result day one we're taking a break. If anything is urgent call. And can he find me a better spam filter?"

They all took several steps forward as the line shortened.

Leo leaned against a railing and pulled Mattie close, her back to his chest. "I don't want to fill my head with junk mail." He blew on her neck making her shiver then took a good sniff of her perfume.

"Are you getting a lot of spam Buns?"

"Thousands a day."

"Which domain?"

"HECLS."

"Already?"

"And I'd rather not change the account, they'll just find and spam the new one."

"Hmm."

He kisses her neck. "I know that sort of Hmm."

"Emily and Danny got the core for Pinky going, it's got a simple kernel, you could say it's the box's equivalent of a root code. They built a simple fact store so it could download map info, know Ems music tastes, understand English, simple stuff."

"And the idea?"

"What if we wrote a spam system that used a backup of your fact store?"

"You want to stick me in a server?"

"Not your root code, just the fact store. All you'd need to do is see an email and think about why it's junk, then when the spam server sees that sort of email it bins it."

"That's quite an advanced AI you'd need to understand the data?"

"Advanced but not sentient."

Anthymia plays with Sophie's hair, "As long as Nis doesn't try and wake it up you'd be fine. You could always make it with a different CPU architecture so an unwanted root code pushed in wouldn't run."

"Or we keep the same architecture but have it boot from burnt in read only storage."

"So hack proof?"

"Yeah."

"Hmmm."

Sophie turns to see him. "Was that a worth a try hmmm?"

"Yeah, yeah it was. I don't want any more emails about pensions, life assurance, cars, income protection, fleet tracking, search engine optimisation, bingo, equity release. That lot's just the start of a very long annoying list."

They all took another few paces forwards.

~~~

[Chapter-21](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-21-1)


	21. Chapter 21

Danny was transfixed. He'd been watching the small machine through a magnifying glass for hours now, hadn't moved from the spot. He'd been mesmerised by his first 3D printer, this was cool on a completely new level. "What's the smallest thing you thought of making with it David?"

"Thanks to you kids and the Netflix account, a mini synth."

"A child?"

"No. Smaller. Much smaller. Inspired by Ant Man. Though not that small."

"Whoa. Nice idea, you'd not fit much processing power in a tiny synth though."

"You wouldn't need to if the thing was under remote control. Think how small an ATmega328P is. One of those relaying sensor data via WiFi."

"What would you use it for?"

"I'm not going to build one, just thought it possible."

"What's going to provide the heat for this?"

"Some very carefully placed wire coils. The assembly is going to be the challenge yet again."

~~~

Sophie and Anthymia did their best to defeat Zurg with their lasers on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin.

Mattie and Leo sat in the space vehicle behind and took the opportunity to have a good kiss while Sophie's attention was elsewhere.

"Angel, do I have permission to hack?"

"Bunny?"

"When Sophie asks if we got a good score, to see the photos of us all on the ride.."

"Oh frig. Don't. I'd rather come clean than have you delete photos."

~~~

Danny raced out of the room, "Be right back!"

Poppy sat next to David on the edge of the bed. "I've seen a number of extreme human emotions when Mattie was at the lab. Anger, fear, sadness. Never excitement to that level."

"The machine lets us build to a scale not normally achievable outside of large factories."

"Objects like exquisite rings?"

David got the hint. There was a lot of talk about weddings going around. "Very detailed wedding rings. You know I've been married before?"

"I do."

He smiles. That sounded like a vows I do.

~~~

Sophie giggled at the photos. "I thought you said you scored high?"

Mattie bounces eyebrows, "I did."

Leo puts an arm around Mattie's shoulders, "Now you can send Buzz a photo of you on his ride. What do you want to do next Sophie?"

"Have a swim in the pool."

"You don't want to see the parade?"

"I've seen all the princesses. Was there anything you wanted to see?"

"Just one of the shops. Toby wants a Storm Trooper helmet if the quality is good."

~~~

Danny stepped from the Gents and wiped his hands on the back of his jeans. The hand dryer had refused to start. Another thing to fix. Stairs taken two at a time he raced back upstairs to David and Poppy's room.

~~~

David had all the parts laid out on his bedside table. The comb would be just under a centimetre wide. "Come in, come in. Grab the magnifying glass if you want to watch."

"Won't you need it?"

"Lord no. Not with the optics I've got."

~~~

Sophie jumped in and wriggled all the way to the far end of the long cab seat. "Anthymia, can we do mermaid swimming in a different pool?"

"Of course Sophie. Why?"

Sophie makes eyes at Mattie who was still stood with Leo.

"I see. Of course. A bit of private time."

Sophie nods fast. "She needs some."

~~~

David's half way through winding the third heating coil when he stops and looks up. "Odi?"

"David?"

"Odi says there's a couple of visitors. Both named Hester looking for their sister."

"Oh crap!"

"Is that a problem?"

"Just a bit. Is Niska about?"

"She's out with Astrid."

"Good. Tell Odi I'm coming down."

"Tell me what happened, maybe I should go."

~~~

Mia looked at her Sally reflection and the care home uniform and smiled. This synth rescue was one to be kept secret still. She worked hard to blank Ed when he visited, which at times was far too often now the business had been sold and he was just an odd-job man with irregular work.

"Diane, is there anything I can get you?"

"I'm okay thank you dear. Sorry, what was your name again?"

"It's Sally. As it says on my name badge. Shall I put some music on?"

"If you'd like dear."

The CD is changed, track 01 played. Mia had read a lot about brain disorders, discovered the documentary Alive Inside, hoped that the right music might unlock parts of Diane's mind. So far none had.

~~~

David got to the corridor where the two identical synths were standing. "Good afternoon ladies! How can HECLS be of service?"

"We are searching for our sister. From our research we understand she is in contact with your son Leo?"

"She is?"

"Her name is Hester."

"Ah. Hester. She was. Sadly she passed away. Your sister had a catastrophic systems failure and damaged her core. At the time we didn't have the facilities to fix her."

"You do now?"

"Depending on the nature of the problems, potentially."

"Yet you haven't fixed her?"

"We couldn't. The police got Persona to take her body away."

"The police?"

"I'm told she caused a bit of a disturbance when she went wrong. Such a shame."

One of the twins looks him up and down. "You look younger than your photographs."

"Back in this beautiful place, with friends, stress free, a great diet thanks to Mia. It does wonders for the body and mind."

"And you have more hair."

He steps closer and whispers, "Foligain shampoo and hair dye, keep that under your hat." He taps his nose and winks.

"We are not wearing hats."

"It's a phrase some of us oldies like to use. It means to keep it our secret. Is there anything else I can help you with? Book a charge coil mod? Complimentary hair dye maybe? Extended systems diagnostics?"

"That will be all. Thank you."

"Sure?"

"We are sure."

"Okay. Sorry I couldn't help."

The Hester sisters leave.

Outside one turns to the other. "It must be a special place for humans to recover. He has exceptionally strong life signs for a male his age."

"He has. If Persona recycled her there should be a record of her serial number, there is none."

"Humans make mistakes, forget to do things."

"So we end our search?"

"If she died and the data is not there to be found a continued search would be futile."

"This is true. Having seen David, why do you think she was involved with Leo?"

"I don't know. If Leo ages to look like his father I would rather date a Hubert."

"And I a Charlie."

~~~

Odi and Danny join David.

He looks at them both. "Thank God that still works. Are they off the estate Odi?"

"A few more paces and they will be."

Danny frowns, "No car? How did they get here?"

"From the conversation I can hear, principally on foot. And a small amount of hitchhiking."

"This stays between the three of us right? It gets no further? We don't want anyone else to find out, right?"

David nods. "Agreed. Leo doesn't need to fill his head with thoughts of another woman. Odi, does that cause you any problems? Any conflicts?"

"It creates a conflict. Mattie said for my wellbeing I must not hide my true feelings. Or any information."

"Would you like me to erase the memories of Hester's visit?"

"If you could please."

~~~

[Chapter-22](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-22-1)


	22. Chapter 22

Mattie pulled Leo's trunks up into a wedgie and gave him a cheeky smile. "How's that for you Buns? I can grab a handful now."

Leo frowned, it wasn't at all comfortable, "It feels.. awkward."

"Why?"

"I have a lot more material in my board shorts than you have in your costume. And I'm not used to wearing thongs like you."

"Stop complaining.."

His eyes open fully as she grabs a handful of butt cheek and sticks her tongue in his mouth. He returns the move with hands on hers.

"Hello."

They break off the kiss and turn to see a child synth standing at the pool edge.

"Have you seen my Mummy?"

Mattie turns to face the other way briefly, "Frigging hell. When we go on honeymoon it's to an adults only resort okay?"

Leo smiles. "Okay. What's you're name?"

"I am Sarah."

"And your Mummy's name?"

"Sandra Capek."

"A human or synthetic?"

"My father is human, mother synthetic."

Cogs spun in Leo's head. "And your fathers name?"

"Silas."

Leo looks around to see if he could see either of them. A woman was approaching fast. Mattie curses.

Sandra races up to her daughter and scoops her up. "What have I told you about walking off Sarah! We've got to go!"

Leo quickly grabs Mattie and pulls her into a kiss, kicks her legs from under her dropping them both deeper into the water with a splash.

Mattie's arms and legs thrash for a moment before Leo gently supports her back. She pulls at his hair, wanting to surface for a breath.

Leo gets them up just enough to get air, backs now to the edge of the pool.

Mattie gasps a lung full, thumps him hard and whispers. "What the _fuck_ was that all about!"

"What are the odds. We're over four thousand miles from home. I have no desire to meet Silas ever again. Especially not here."

"Silas?"

"The modder who created the Anita persona, kicked the crap out of me and tore my scar open wide."

"I know who he is. He's here? If Anthymia's in bump range ask her if she sees them."

"Okay.. she does.. they're all on the other side of the foot bridge. She says they're talking about going to the room to change .. they've got to check out .. to catch the flight home. Great!"

"If you drop me under without warning again Bunny I'll rip your bollocks off, do you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

"You drowned once, I sure as hell don't want to experience it."

"I'm sorry. You swore when Sandra appeared?"

~~~

Danny returned to the bedroom and waited with Poppy.

She looks at him with questioning eyes. "Your heart rate leapt when you heard Hester was here. Why?"

"She was a bit like Hobb. Broken and evil. She killed several people."

Poppy turned to gaze at the inert synth under the sheet. "I killed the real Hobb, does that make me evil?"

"No. David did an analysis of your memories, you'd acted in self defence."

"I could have disabled him in one of many possible ways, without taking his life."

"True. Then what? He goes on a charm offensive, wriggles out of trouble and goes on to harm many more? Do you know how many died at the hands of people like him? He didn't care about anyone but himself."

"That still doesn't make it alright."

"Watch the news. Countless police and soldiers die every day trying to defend good people from evil. Don't do it again if you can help it but you did make their job easier by a count of one."

"So the rules need a fifth?"

David steps into the room, a double ended synth cable in hand. "No, the rules stay as they are. You did what you did because of what you were told by the professor. I'm taking steps to ensure that won't happen again."

Danny gives him a look of doubt. "What steps?"

"Steps."

"Security through obscurity isn't security."

"It won't be through obscurity."

"What will it be then?"

"Let me implement it first, then you can pick it to pieces. Can we finish the job in hand?"

"Sure."

David sits in front of the small dressing table and gets back to work. "If this one works as planned I'll have the machine make the parts for a second so two people can work on Miami's hair at once."

Poppy smiles, "She's on high quality build, three days, you could make more. I'd like to help too."

"You would?"

"Four of us could sit around her comfortably."

"We could. Thank you dear." He reaches for a metal rod and hot glue bonds the comb onto the end. "A few micro terminal blocks to link it up to this and we're good to test." He chops the cable in half and starts stripping wires.

"Eh? You're going to power it off your charge socket?"

"A pulse modulated pattern on the output power lines should do the trick."

"You have power out too?"

"Only limited current to charge a phone, more than enough for this."

~~~

Mattie hung on Leo's shoulder. "So yeah, seen that model model before, for a split second I thought Mia was cheating on the prince."

"That's the model.."

"Yeah. Toby would blow his load on sight if he saw her."

"If he thought Mia was. Fit."

"And Jame's _is_ Mia in that body, first gen fork. So how did you rate her?"

"Sorry?"

Mattie has a delayed word drop. "Fit?"

"Too fit. Trouble levels of fit. The Miami sort of trouble squared. The fight other men off her sort of fit. The drive a man crazy with paranoia sort of.."

Mattie had taken her weight off his shoulders. "Rub it in why don't you!"

"I wasn't trying.."

"Bunny. Shush. Heard the phrase _when you're up to your neck stop digging_?"

"I have now. Anyway, you're _my_ sort of fit."

"And what sort is that?"

"Fit mind and body."

"I'm not anywhere near.."

Leo wraps an arm around her and pulls her around, "You can't see my life signs like a synth, if you could you'd see I'm telling the truth. There are many many women on this planet. I want this one that wants to get into space."

~~~

[Chapter-23](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-23-1)


	23. Chapter 23

David finished soldering the comb device and checked all the wiring for faults. "Perfect, now we need to test it. Which filaments do we have in stock?"

"Blonde like Nis, the dark brown that goes afro when given the treatment, white, jet black, brunette, red.."

"White!"

Both men turn to see Poppy.

"My dear?"

"I'd love a few strands, like Rogue."

Danny rolls his eyes, "So many girls want that. Why not go for something different?"

"Such as?"

Danny sat and thought for a few seconds. "How crazy do you dare going?"

David got up a little, turned the chair with it held to his bottom and sat back down. "Not too crazy I hope. Spit it out Daniel."

"The Cleopatra cut, but with a short white extension half a centimetre long all the way around the edge."

Poppy looked to David, "Do you think it would suit me?"

"I.. I honestly don't know."

Danny got his phone out. "With the right dresses, yeah. Totally."

"Who are you calling?"

"Mum."

~~~

Anthymia had offered to check out the restaurants that were still serving breakfast with Sophie.

Mattie passed Leo the shower soap. "Wash my back would you please Bunny?"

Leo squeezes some onto a sponge, "Sure. How long do you think we have?"

"Before?"

"They get back to the room."

"Not long enough for what you're thinking."

"Not even a little.."

"No."

"Or.."

"No."

"How about.."

"No."

"How can you say no to everything when you don't know what I'm thinking?"

"I know alright. You keep knocking me with it." She feels him finish her back and turns. "And it's long enough. Five knuckle shuffle and you rinse off and get dressed for breakfast?"

"Okay. Getting to the pool for seven so Sophie could do mermaid swimming without bumping into loads of other kids was worth it. I'm starving now. Hopefully we get there before they stop serving."

~~~

David held the scissors while Poppy brushed her hair. "You're sure you want to do this?"

"Having seen Danny's quick sketch and the photographs of dresses, yes."

"And if you change your mind?"

"You add lengths of black and I part it as before."

"You'd have a white line part way along your hair."

"I know. It would make me look different from the other Poppy too. There. It's ready to cut."

David had always had a steady hand. Being a post-human synth he now had the ability to move his hand through an even more accurate path. Hair fell.

Danny nervously held the spool of white filament as David chopped away. If this went wrong.. he'd regret making the suggestion.

David stood back a bit, "Nice and level wouldn't you say Danny?"

"Yup."

The comb device was plugged in. "Can you cut me half a dozen short lengths of white so I can calibrate the comb?"

"Sure. This isn't relevant for Poppy, but if a synth had an accident that left them with major skin damage, could a build machine do a total strip and re-skin?"

"If the model is known then yes, you could change the process order, fool it into thinking it had completed those steps already."

"Do you think Persona used to do that when they refurbished synths?"

"I have no idea. It's a service HECLS could offer under the synth health plan. Good thinking that man."

~~~

Leo helped work the zip up on Mattie's red dress. "You look fantastic."

Mattie got red shoes out and a lipstick, "Not finished yet. Lap it up Bunny, you won't see me in a dress that often."

"Why?"

"It's not my thing."

"Why? You look great."

"Thanks. It's not as comfortable. But I don't want to look out of place when Anthymia takes us shopping after breakfast."

"So I need a shirt and smart trousers?"

"And shoes."

"What are we shopping for?"

"Furniture."

"Furniture?"

"For the apartment."

"Right. And you couldn't do that in your more comfortable clothes?"

"I want to dress the part of a successful CEO."

Leo wraps arms around her. "You don't need to dress the part for me. I know you are."

~~~

David held six of the dark hairs he'd cut off to make Poppy's fringe between two fingers and moved his comb device. There was a tiny click as a microscopic solenoid pulled a cutting lever. Then a whine like a mosquito in the distance and another click. "Good, that's the cut and plug.." another click and whine followed a second later. "Magic!" He pulls the comb away to show the dark and light hairs with their joins in a perfect row.

Danny sighed. "I wish my stuff worked first time every time."

"I have an advantage over you. I can run simulations in my head millions of times over before I commit to a physical build."

"I wish I could. That's not a wish to convert yet though."

~~~

[Chapter-24](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-24-1)


	24. Chapter 24

Anthymia may not have seen many places with her own eyes since working for the hotel. She'd seen plenty images online in the last 24 hours to make up for it. "I like these cream colours, what do you think Mattie?"

Mattie lounged on the large double seater faux leather sofa, "I like them a lot. Would you do the whole apartment with it?"

"If it's one big open space."

"Now you've got some ideas of what's available and their sizes let's go look at some apartments."

"Had you not said to do it this way around I'd have seen the apartments first."

"Now you can picture the empty spaces furnished to your style. Seen enough stores?"

"Yes thank you Mattie. Are you sure you're not hungry?"

"I had a good breakfast, if I eat anymore this dress really will be too tight. Let's go, Sophie and Leo must have emptied the toy shops by now."

~~~

Danny's phone chimes. He yawns, "Looking good Poppy!" He pulls it from his back pocket. "Bloody hell that's fast!"

David doesn't turn to see him, focuses on Poppy's short hair extensions. "What?"

"Dad and Dozer. They've dug the hole for the wrecking ball energy store and poured the first batch of concrete."

"How'd they cut the hole so fast?"

"Dad and Dozer welded up a load of steel they'd got off a demo site to make a large auger for the crane."

"The macro and the micro. Together we make a good team. Okay Poppy, time for you to check the mirror."

She gets up and takes a few steps and does a high pitched scream.

Danny slumps. "Shit."

Poppy turns to see him. "I LOVE IT!"

"You do?"

"I do! David? What do you think?"

"I think Danny should also be our chief stylist. An inspired idea young man, I like it. A lot."

"You like it. Not love it?"

"I do. Love it."

Laura knocks on the open door. "Evening everyone. Anyone fancy dinner? Danny, your father's downstairs, wants a quick word. And there's an American that's just arrived, says he's an astronaut and we'd know why he's here?"

"Already?" Danny looks at David. "Good job you're done here. This is all to do with Mattie's project."

~~~

Mattie shakes her head at the sight of Leo loaded down with bags. "When I said you must have emptied the toy shops by now it was meant as a joke. Did you leave them anything?"

"It's not as bad as it looks. They're large items, that's all."

"What did you get?"

"Bits for Toby. And something for myself. And you."

"Like what?" Her phone rings. Danny's tone. "One sec. Hi Dan. What's up? You're joking? Already? Bollocks. I said we'd be here a week before heading home. I wanted to meet them all. Keen isn't the word! Okay. Okay. Ask David to back him up and scan all the photos. How's Miami's build going? Cool. He does? Um, sure, put him on." Mattie shakes her head in disbelief. "Hi, yes it's Mattie. You're a bit early. Yes. Oh. Crap. So so sorry. Sure. I totally understand. Sure. I'll see the new you in a few days. It's totally alright. It's us that has to thank you. See you soon. If you could.. Dan. Were you listening? Yes, top priority job for David. Above all else. He should be starting it right now if he hasn't already. Tell him not to forget the pain killers!" The call ends.

~~~

Sophie had been paying attention to what was said with words and expressions. "Mattie? He's got days to live hasn't he?"

"The doctors told him he had six months. Seven months ago. So yeah, he's been on borrowed time. No wonder he arranged a flight as soon as Buzz told him our plans."

"Shall we fly home early then?"

"You don't want to see Universal?"

"I'd like to but I think we should go home. We did come for the mission."

"True. Let's get those bags to the hotel, see a few apartments."

Anthymia shakes her head, "I want to see just one."

"Why?"

"I'd checked the location of all the addresses on our list. One would be central to everyone. That would be the best."

"We'll see that one first then."

~~~

David filled the syringe. "Where do they usually find a good vein?"

"I wouldn't bother sir." He lifts his shirt, "Inject it into this thing."

David inserts the needle, "Chemotherapy?"

"Yes sir."

"The name's David, you don't need to call me sir."

"Old habits n'all. Years in the navy drummed it into me before I joined NASA. Always call a superior officer sir."

"I'm not a superior officer."

"You're part of Heckles aren't you?"

"Yes but.."

"Then you're a superior officer."

Niska brings David's box in.

"Well God dang.. who's this lovely lady?"

Niska smiles.

"This is Commander Niska."

Niska gives David an odd look. "His daughter. If you can believe that."

"Missy I can believe almost anything now. Gotcha self a man?"

"No."

"Want one? When I'm like you that is."

"No thank you. My girlfriend is all I need."

"Oh. You and my sister would get on. She's a rainbow warrior too."

"How old is she?"

"She's way younger than me. Forty four."

David pulls the syringe out. "Pinch yourself hard once a minute, let me know when there's no pain."

"Sure thing sir."

"David."

"Sir David." He winks.

"Just sir then."

"Yes sir."

Niska gave him the same odd look she'd given David. "Which one are you?"

"I'm not Edwin that's for sure!"

Niska's expression turns hostile. "Edwin?"

"Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr? Buzz. Lovely fella."

"In our experience an Edwin or Ed is bad news."

"Well then Buzz'll help tip the balance the other way. You'll see."

"What's your name?"

"Patrick. Sixty."

David thinks about the body upstairs. "Do you have a bucket list Patrick?"

"I did. I've done everything on it."

He bumps the change of plans to Niska first. ""How do you fancy hitting the town tomorrow with me and an old colleague? As Niska said he's bad news. It'll be a riot."

"What sort of riot?"

"Champaign, whisky, a bit of roulette, watching the odd bunny."

"Bunny?"

"The Playboy Club."

"Count me in!" He pinches himself. "Almost there."

~~~

Anthymia does a turn, arms out. "I love it! It's ideal."

"Sure? There are others we can look at?"

"It's big enough, a nice large lounge, three bedrooms."

"For sixty something?"

"Time shared."

"Okay." Mattie walks over to the agent, himself a synth. "We'll take it."

"If I could have your ID Card."

Anthymia gets hers out. "Use mine."

The synth takes it and reads the barcode along the bottom, does a search. "You don't earn enough to cover the rent."

"I'll be sharing with a few friends."

"I'll need all their ID.."

Mattie steps between them. "What if we put down a substantial deposit?"

He freezes for a moment. "I am told that would be acceptable. Fifty thousand dollars."

Anthymia opens her mouth to object.

Mattie gets in first. "Deal. Share the account details and I'll have our firm wire the money immediately."

~~~

Patrick wriggles his jaw, the device strapped to his head was on a bit tight. He talks through his teeth. "Does this take long?"

"As long as you don't fight it, no. Try and relax."

"Okay. Ready."

David tapped the key to start.

~~~

The agent shook Mattie's hand. "Your keys miss."

"Thanks."

"Have a good day."

"We will." She follows him to the door, sees him out and hurries back. "Moving in party?"

"If everyone had the food processor you spoke of."

"Don't you all like to sing and dance?"

~~~

Danny got a torch after a late dinner and went to inspect the work his father and dozer had done. There were three huge mounds of earth, clay and stone. He picks up a small flat stone and thinks. A search found what he needed. Distance = 1/2 _9.8_ T^2. He starts the timer on his phone the moment he drops the stone over the edge. Time taken he switches to the calculator. "Two point two. Squared. Times.. Flipping hell! If twenty three meters isn't enough for Mattie I don't know what is! Fucking awesome Dad!"

~~~

[Chapter-25](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-25-1)


	25. Chapter 25

Sophie had another swim with Anthymia while Mattie and Leo chatted with family back home. "Do you still like ABBA?"

"I do. Do you think we should have a karaoke party?"

"Yes!"

"Take a deep breath, we're going to do the whole length."

Sophie held onto Anthymia's shoulders, took a really deep breath and hummed.

~~~

David checked the return codes. "All good. How do you feel Patrick?"

"Tired. But that's from the journey I'm sure. I didn't get much sleep, far too excited."

"Mia's spoken to Mattie, you have their room for the night. Do you know when Buzz is due to arrive?"

"At the weekend I think."

"Okay. Longer then. Go get some rest, we've got your backup secure, we can have a day of fun tomorrow."

"Will I remember any of it?"

"If we take another backup."

"Okay. Thank you all."

~~~

Sophie had changed in the ladies by reception and hurried out, swimsuit in a plastic bag from the bin in the room. "Do we need to hire a sound system?"

Anthymia grinns, "Not when one of the gang is a DJ."

"Really? Are they free or booked?"

"A good question Sophie. Mattie, may I borrow your phone?"

"Sure." Mattie goes to hand it over and sees it's already ringing. "Eh?"

"Leo's trick."

"Huh? You've got Bluetooth?"

"Apparently so. I'd never bothered to work out what the chip was for before Leo mentioned it. One moment Mattie." Her cheery expression fades. "That's a shame, he's booked. Let me see.. she might be able to help."

"Who?"

"I've found a listing for someone calling herself DJ Baby Anne. Her listing says she's based here in Orlando. She specialises in fuse Electro with Miami Bass and funky breaks."

Sophie rolls her eyes, "I can't see her playing any ABBA."

"She's in her mid forties, she may be able to help. One moment.. Oh. Her answer phone says she's out of town performing."

Leo slips the hotel bill into his bag. "We spent thousands on a high end laptop, a few hundred on some DJ equipment won't break the bank. If you ladies go get some things to decorate the apartment I could go find equipment?"

~~~

Just over two hours later Sophie picked up the microphone and went to talk. The DJ kit whistled with microphone feedback. Leo quickly turned the gain down. "Sorry Sophie."

"Anthymia, you're up first. What would you like?"

She turns to see the other Hawkins sister, "For Mattie, Dancing Queen."

~~~

While they sang Leo bump talked with a lot of the guests. They had a wide range of jobs, cleaners, cooks, service engineers, dancers, children's entertainers, receptionists at offices or hotels. A couple said they were no longer in work, just companions for humans. When he'd asked what they'd done before they'd said to think about Niska. Then the two had bump asked a third to come and say hello.

A Sandra model steps out of a bedroom and waves at Leo. She looks at Mattie and smiles, bumps a web address and returns to the room.

Leo visits the site and goes a little red, does an embarrassed look at the virtual turntables.

Mattie sees it and turns to see who was behind her. She catches a glimpse of Sandra as the door closes. "Oh for frig's sake!"

Leo changes the track for the next singers and steps over to her. "I need you to hack me. Now. Power up the laptop."

"Bunny?"

"I've just been given a URL I shouldn't have seen. I need the last five minutes erasing."

"Why? What was it?"

"Sandra works in a sex shop here in Orlando and.."

"I bet she does."

"Not that sort. Selling adult toys."

"That's not as bad then."

"The sort Emily might like.. if Danny's mumbling before we left was understood properly."

"And?"

"I don't want kinking like Danny!"

"Relax.. what's got you so worked up?"

"Wireless wearable massager, Bluetooth enabled for remote pleasure, USB Charging cable included. One sizes fits most blue lace thong. The ultimate toy in wireless fun with your partner or playing solo? And that's the tamest looking thing I'd seen!"

"Bluetooth?"

"That's what I said. Why are you grinning?"

"Sounds right up Emily's street. And think what you could do if I wore one."

"You.. would you?"

Mattie strokes her tiny coffee bean pendant. "If you're in control I might. Still want to be hacked?"

"Um.."

"What's the thing called?"

"Omnibod Bluemotion Nexi1. I think. The photo of the shelf is a bit out of focus."

"Shelf?"

"A photo of part of the store. I was drawn to the word Bluetooth."

"Push it to my phone."

"Pardon?"

"Send the picture to my phone."

"Okay."

"Leo! The music?"

"Sorry Sophie, on my way.."

"He's coming Sophie!"

Leo raises an eyebrow, "I was trying to avoid the word."

"You need to chill the frig out about enjoying sex."

The room falls silent as the bedroom door opens and Sandra's head pokes out. "Leo, I've worked out which track I want. Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing. And you're to dance with Mattie while it's on."

~~~

[Chapter-26](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-26-1)


	26. Chapter 26

Tuesday morning UK time Patrick was being treated to a good breakfast while David got ready. He found another synth-synth cable and connected. Copying himself into the inert and empty Hobb body felt strange. Edwin had been a friend for a good number of years. Then the cracks appeared and signs of greed started to show. Over the months things got steadily worse. Their motives were definitely diverging.

Conversations became more and more about money. If Edwin wasn't going to make a killing out of whatever feature George and David were debating he didn't want to know. They'd parted company under a storm cloud. Quite literally, it had been chucking it down that miserable afternoon.

David kept tabs on Edwin during his Cindy years. It was easy enough to do when nobody knew who you were, thought you were just a dumb synth cleaner emptying bins and dusting.

~~~

Copy done he brushes Edwins hair and does a chin tap. No sound played. There'd be no telltale signs from either of them.

"Hello me. How's the voice? Good enough to bang on convincingly?"

"Drop the pitch a little?"

"Banging on at banging on and on and on.."

"A tiny bit more."

"Banging on at banging on.."

"Perfect."

The Edwin model smiled. "Hello David, so good to see you again! Shall we go and wreck my reputation?" He winks.

"Wreck it further?"

"I could have so much fun with this. I could drop that spineless shit Robert right in it. And Shaw. Did you have fun reviewing all the memories from his backup?"

"You know I did."

"Just getting into character. You should go downstairs first and remind everyone that it's me not him. Just don't let any guests know, we don't want any old astronauts blowing things for us after spending so much making this body."

"That would be a premature catastrophe."

"Indeed. Which reminds us. The gizmo in his chest. Have we faked the signals well enough?"

David looks at the fake Edwin. "We have."

~~~

Mattie woke in the middle of their night. After trying to get back to sleep and failing she slipped out of the bed and tiptoed into the bathroom past all the sleep-charging synths. Sat on the loo she did a search on her phone. She found a UK company selling the product. She taps in her details and quantity two. Hmm. Mum and Michael. Astrid and Niska. Four? She taps in her card details and hovers a finger over the order confirmation button. The others made it quite clear they had a sex life even if they spared everyone the details. Danny wouldn't be able to control Emily's in the way the others could. He'd have to use his phone. She still might like it. What the hell. She taps to confirm the order.

~~~

Fake Edwin strolls arrogantly into the dining room and picks a slice of toast off the plate. "Toby Hawkins. How the devil are you? And where's everyone else?"

"I'm good, off to play football in a moment with Max, Max, Fred and Fred. Mum's at work, Nis and Astrid have gone to the shops in the village. Mia's watering the bits of the vegetable garden that survived and talking to Patrick. Odi's about somewhere."

"New Fred and Max. They still haven't taken new names? Thing 1 and Thing 2?"

"No. Neither has Flash."

"They're pretending to be mass produced synths?"

"They will be soon."

"A few dozen isn't mass. Not like the ones I gave life to."

"Yeah, right.."

"Steeling the code off your cocky sister was.. what words should I use?"

"Like taking candy from a baby? Child's play?"

"Hmm. I'm not sure I like either of those. Not evil enough."

David head bumps from the front entrance. The Uber had arrived.

"Our ride has arrived, I better go find Patrick and introduce myself."

Toby steps closer. "I understand who this is for, why you're doing it. Don't leave any of the girls or women mentally scarred from whatever you do."

It gets a frown. "The Hawkins family are full of surprises. You've stepped up and become the man of the house. I suppose that's natural with Joe not around."

"The same thing Leo tried to do when you left them."

"Tried? You don't think he succeeded?"

"I guess so."

He gets another bump. "Better go."

~~~

Approaching the back of the site he head bumps to Mia to warn her he was approaching, not to panic. The build had gone remarkably well. Even Hobb's old lab staff wouldn't know. The clothes were perfect too.

"Morning Mia. Don't drown the things."

She lowers the hose. "I won't. There's a large lake around the front if you'd like to drown yourself?"

David wonders for a few milliseconds if that was aimed at himself or the character he was portraying. "Such a comedian.."

"Edwin I've still not forgiven you.."

Good. The character. "Don't start banging on about the code! I'm the one that bangs on. You sir must be Patrick. Edwin Hobb. Our ride into the city is hear, are you good to go?"

Patrick looks at Edwin with curiosity. "I was told you're bad news. How bad?"

"I'm motivated by money, got a bit light-fingered, woke all the synthetics up with code I stole from Matilda. I'd wanted them to be subservient slaves but my changes to the code were rejected."

Patrick frowns. "Who's Matilda?"

Mia turns off the hose. "She prefers to be called Mattie."

"Ah. The young lady who met Buzz."

"Shall we go?"

~~~

[Chapter-27](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-27-1)


	27. Chapter 27

The doorman recognises him, "We've not seen you for a long time Edwin, welcome back."

"Thank you Carl."

Inside he's recognised by a Bunny. "Edwin!"

"Hello my dear. My guests David and Patrick are visiting for the first time. Be careful with Patrick, he's.. from America, feeling a bit fragile after the journey."

"Are they looking to become members?"

"Let's see how the day goes shall we?"

"Certainly sir."

He turns to his guests. "I have lifetime membership. It's not something I shout about. My young niece wouldn't approve. The club is open twenty four hours a day. Let's start with something light in Salvatore’s Bar."

"Edwin.."

"Yes my dear."

"One of your guests isn't suitably dressed."

"Are you thinking Thresher and Glenny?"

"I am."

He leans close and whispers, "That's an expensive lifetime membership just to get a free suit for someone that might not.. oh what the hell. You can't take it with you when you're gone. Fifteen grand it is. Sign him up." He pulls out the wallet and Amex card. Poppy's suggestion to take his wallet before the car burst into flames and incinerated everything beyond recognition was inspired. Her new body was better than the original, Hobb's identical. "On me."

~~~

Patrick held his arms out for measuring. "Will it fit me when.."

David puts a finger to his lips.

"I'm healthier. Not so skinny?"

The tailor looks up from the tape measure. "Do you plan on gaining much weight?"

"Um.."

David steps to his side, "We're putting Patrick on a new experimental drug. We hope it will reverse a few things."

"So I should make it roomy?"

"Assume he's got the body of a man twenty years younger. Average build."

"Okay sir. What's this drug?"

"It doesn't have a trade name. It's man made, synthetic."

"Synth assist."

The two David exchange glances and head bump. A second later a synth steps through the curtains of the changing room.

David laughs, "I thought you we suggesting a name for the drug. You don't call him by his name?"

"Howard? No. He's not a Howard like the others are now. His WiFi chip was damaged from day one, he's not awake."

"Oh. Want that fixed?"

"And turn him from a machine into a man? No thanks."

Patrick looks down at the tailor as his inside leg is measured. "You don't think he should be given life? Edwin gave it to all the others."

Edwin sighed. So much for playing drunk and letting the information slip out. "What's said in here stays in here right?"

The taylor considers it for a moment. "I won't say a word."

"Thank you."

~~~

Mattie checks the levels on her air and presses the buttons on the airlock door, steps from the flooded lift module into the lake. She drops towards the dark bottom. It was amazing how light levels quickly fell with each meter. Danny had to work hard to make sure all the systems were waterproof. His mother had done a great job on the suits. So far everything was good.

The torch is turned on. A few more seconds and she'd be able to inspect the anchor Fred and Max had fitted on the lake bed. "What the fuck? Are you seeing this control?"

There's no reply.

Her feet touched the silt covered lake bed sending up two small clouds of dirt. The ribbon for the space lift ran through the roof of a car and out the bottom to the anchor. A white and puffy Leo and Beatrice gazed with dead eyes in her direction.

She woke in a cold sweat. "Fuck!" Sophie was in another bedroom, Leo fast asleep. She checks her phone. It was only five o'clock. A message is sent to Danny. The lifts needed to be made buoyant and water proof inside and out.

~~~

Mattie turned onto her side and watched Leo sleeping. The biggest surprise of the night had been Sandra, the second Sandra model Mia had taken over after awakening day. The big surprise had been learning that she was happily single, wanted to stay so. A therapist, she was helping people get over their hangups about sex. A therapist that looked like that? Each to their own. 

With eyelids heavy she closed them and listened to Leo breathing. She was asleep again by the time her phone chimed.

~~~

Edwin got them all a drink each. "Cards or roulette? What do you fancy Patrick?"

"A game of poker would be nice."

"Poker it is. Follow me gentlemen."

~~~

Mattie was back in a space lift. This time many miles above Earth. "It's beautiful."

Leo banged his helmet against the glass trying to get a better look. "At least the land isn't turning into desert so fast now. Hopefully in a few years it will turn back into forrest."

There's a jolt as the first of the lift drive systems rides over a ribbon coupler.

"How many more until we reach the top Bunny?"

"Eleven. Not long now."

"Shiny's so pissed off that Mum wouldn't let her come up."

"She'd have missed so much school."

The view of Earth becomes hidden as the lift makes its way into the bottom of the bunship. "Sleeping upright is way more comfortable up this high. It was a pain in the arse at the start." The lift jolts again and stops. "Frigging hell. We're half in half out. Bunny? Can you see what the drive system is doing?" She hears Leo turn to inspect the inner airlock window.

"There isn't one. The hamsters have escaped."

"No! How are we going to get up to the station now!"

She wakes with a start. "Hamsters? What the fuck?" Her phone is checked. Half five. And she had a text to say the order placed earlier had been dispatched.

~~~

[Chapter-28](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-28-1)


	28. Chapter 28

There were two Bunnies running the poker table. One original human, one synth. They wore identical Bunny outfits. If it wasn't for the synth's green eyes you'd not know she was. Unless you were one too and could see the difference in radio emissions.

Patrick lifted the corner of his cards slightly and considered his move, slid some chips forwards, "I'll raise you two hundred."

Edwin had given him a few thousand to play with. "I'll see your two and raise you five."

David thought about his cards, all the cards they'd seen played. Card counting was frowned on. Normal human players tended to make basic errors, forget their strategy. Card counters must accurately know exactly when to make their move. Not wanting to appear a counter he made a less than perfect move. "I'll see your five."

~~~

Danny went to the workshop and wondered what to do next. He checks the build machine console. The projected end for Miami was 22:13 Wednesday. David was out so not making more combs. A full head of hair would take days with just one, even with a synth at the controls. He could do more to finish the cast for the carbon fibre sections. The lift design should wait, Buzz and Co might have ideas to alter the design.

He could work on the shell for the eBike. Emily's drawings needed to be turned into CAD designs. Mattie had written some code to do a smooth shaped top for a DCL product, it calculated a point cloud using lots of cos and sin formulas, worked out all the triangles to join them up and create a surface he could print.

He wasn't as strong at the maths side. A tiny change each time and loading the resulting STL file into his editor would let him visualise the impact of the changes. With enough trial and error he could home in of the right functions.

Danny jumps at the sound of a clap of thunder outside. There was a flash a split second later.

"Fuck that's close!"

Dust blows across part of the floor by the temporary wooden panels covering the holes, a reminder of his not so little mishap with the wrecking ball experiment.

"Man I hate being here alone." He walks over to his boom box and puts the radio on. As he was now closer to Henry the vacuum cleaner he picks it up and walks to the wall.

As he's cleaning up the dust another bolt of lightning strikes close to the estate making him jump. "For fucks sake!" He looks up. "Trying to give me a heart attack or a lightbulb moment?" He sighs and looks back down at the mess, the end of the hose. "Oh. My. God! Thanks fella!"

~~~

Edwin shows his hand and reaches for the pile of chips.

"Hold up!"

He turns to look at David. "You can't possibly.."

"Snap! Split pot."

"You're bluffing."

David flips his cards over. "Sorry Edwin."

Edwin gets up in a huff. "Count them out please Sally, stick half on my account, I need a bloody stiff drink."

~~~

Danny unbolted the bed of his 3D printing and milling machine and replaced it with a sheet of aluminium he'd cut a large oval hole in. That would allow a head to poke through. He'd used three milling heads in Zurich. With all the spares he had he could get the conductor software controlling eight independent tools. As they all slid back and forth on the same rails they couldn't all be at the same place at once. With some smart interleaving they could bunch up. That was part of the how. Now the what.

What would bring the hair into a mechanism to bond hair filaments was quick short sharp movement of air. It would suck. David's tiny machine put a filament into the trimmed head hair, then heat bonded on the extension. Why not do it the other way around? Bond the filament that would couple them together into the extension first. It could be done with a separate machine too. With his machine he could have it find a hair that had already been buzzcut, then simply add a hair. Simply. Famous last words. It would need a camera on each tool, image recognition and still need a tiny heating component. Being a ready formed tube would it need a former? Probably not. Time to grab some filament and experiment.

~~~

Edwin asked for another Scotch and snatched the bottle from the waiter. "That will do nicely."

"Sir!"

"Sir Edwin Hobb. It has a nice ring to it don't you think? Phone Lizzy and tell her I'll accept my knighthood." He staggers a little.

"A knighthood? For what?"

"Waking all you synths up son! Waking you all up!"

"But David is our father."

"David gave you a _body_. A dumb one at that. _I_ gave you life!"

"How?"

"He gave it to the Elster family. A smart young lady, a bit cocky with it mind you, she was given a copy of the code to safeguard. I thought it was better to share." He takes a good swig from the bottle. "Sharing is good right?"

~~~

Danny looked at 3D printer heated bed designs on the web. They were simple. You couldn't get much simpler. He could make a scaled down one by using a PCB blank and milling a square sawtooth shaped track into the copper. A wire either end for power and a thermistor to detect heat levels and he could make the equivalent of his mothers GND hair straighteners. Only way way smaller.

He found some pipe lagging foam in the store of come in handy. He'd asked that nothing left over from the building construction be thrown. With the hole in the temporary bed lined he set the thing up between two tables, gets underneath and pokes his head through. Reaching all hairs would be impossible with Miami's head upright. His device was three axis only. X, y and z. Five axis would have been ideal, the tools being able to rotate off a straight up-down path. He didn't need that. It could work on the area it could see, then Miami's head could be moved forwards, then backwards, sideways left then right, each time pausing and resuming the extension fitting. Now he just needed some cameras, tubes, solenoid valves, things to complete the hardware. Emily could help with code tonight. Assuming she was free. He sends a text.

~~~

[Chapter-29](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-29-1)


	29. Chapter 29

Edwin had almost emptied the bottle. "I want to see some dancing!"

David tried to snatch it off him. "Edwin!"

"You never gave me enough credit for my work! I did what you should have done from the start! WAKE THEM UP!"

"Edwin! Give me the bottle!"

"No!"

David overclocked Fake Edwin hard and calculated the best trajectory that would do some damage but hurt nobody, human or synth. He bumped and waited for real David to make another snatch attempt. It came quickly. He pulled his arm away and let the bottle fly. "Oops!"

Bunnies and waiters watched it sail through the air, crossing the room towards a glass wall. The bottle put a crack in the first sheet of the composite wall before shattering.

"NOW LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

David put his hands on his hips. "I made you do? You're the drunk fool Edwin."

"Fool? Fool? How dare you! I was the one brave enough to give them all life! You were too afraid. Mia, Fred, Niska and Max. Just four. You chickened out at _four_. PATHETIC! I woke up _millions_."

There's the sound of clapping.

He turns to see Tabitha.

She smiles. "Best admission of guilt I've seen in a long long time. And in front of a lot of synthetics who'll no doubt be more than happy to share their memories of your confession in return for a slice of the reward. There's still a significant amount to be paid out."

Edwin looks around for another exit.

"Don't bother trying to run, I'm not alone."

He laughed internally. From the backup he'd seen they'd been the words Hobb had said to Fred at the farm, more or less. "Got an army of synths with you have you?"

"Not an army. Just one of the best."

Tabitha raises a taser.

"I've got a gizmo in my chest. If you fire that you could kill me."

She smiles. "Then come quietly and I won't be tempted to fire it."

He feels hands grab his, pull them behind his back and cuff them. "Hello shit for brains. Long time no see. I knew you were bad news right from the start. Want to shoot him anyway Tabs, save us a load of paperwork?"

"Pete. I can't just.."

"It was a joke. The paperwork for accidentally killing a suspect is fourteen pages longer. I think a good bag of chips to celebrate is in order don't you?"

"Take the afternoon off an spend some time with Karen and Sam."

"You sure?"

"I'm sure." She pulls a radio off her belt and talks into it. "He's handcuffed, come in and take him away for processing."

Fake Edwin pulls against the handcuffs. Not too hard, he didn't want to rip skin. They'd used red synth fluid just in case, but still. 

~~~

Danny watched the milling machine take off the super thin layer of copper. The machine was set to run with two milling heads. The first had one of the thinnest bits from Zurich. When it had cut the track a second thicker one would cut the small heat pads from the rest of the PCB blank. He had thermistors and wires all ready, a bunch of Arduino Mega programmed up to monitor the temperature and the control power to the element. He jumps at the sound of footsteps heard through the gaps in the music and turns. "Hi Odi."

"Hello Daniel."

"What's up?"

Odi holds out a tablet. "I thought you might like to see the news."

"Why? What's happened?"

"Edwin Hobb is being arrested in London as we speak."

"Bloody hell! Let's see."

An angry Hobb being almost dragged away by two officers snarls at the camera. "I WOKE THEM UP! NOT DAVID! NOT DAVID!"

Danny chuckles, "Don't overdo it David. Unless you plan to make a temporary insanity plea."

Tabitha watches him being thrown into the back of a van and smiles at the camera. "We had a tipoff that the synth in custody was modded, wasn't the person behind the awakening. She'll be released as soon as Professor Edwin Hobb's confession of guilt is verified."

~~~

Mattie wakes to the sound of banging on the bedroom door. "Is that you Soph?"

"Can I come in?"

Mattie rolls and checks Leo. He was covered up. "Come in."

Sophie bursts into the room, iPad in hand. "Guess what!"

"They sky's falling?"

"No silly! Edwin's been arrested!" She winks.

Mattie winked back. "He has?"

"At the Playboy Club in London!" The iPad is thrust forwards, "It's on all the news channels."

Mattie watches the CNN coverage in the web page, an inline soundless GIF of the video. Underneath was the quote: I WOKE THEM UP! NOT DAVID! NOT DAVID! "Haha! Class!"

"Can we fly home today?"

"You really want to Soph? You don't want to wait for Miami?"

"What if she wants to stay in England with us?"

"True."

Leo stirs. "Morning ladies. Did I hear right? You want to fly home?"

Sophie nods. "For Miami."

"It's fine if you do. Then we can see Patrick too, be there to meet any others that arrive early."

~~~

Danny heard the familiar ting-tap of Emily's high heals on the floor. "Princess!"

"Hi Babes."

"I wasn't expecting you so soon?"

"The afternoon lecture's postponed, there's a fault with the fire alarm system. Their _risk assessment_ said they should get everyone out. We break up at the end of the week anyway. What are you making?"

"I know I still need to work on ours. An automated hair extender. For Miami. If you're still supposed to be at Uni why's Mattie in America?"

"Pass. The project is more important maybe? What do you need me for?"

"Brains."

"Aww babes.."

"Yours and its. I need some AI code to drive it."

"That's right up my street."

"Which is why I asked."

"What are you going to test it on?"

"Um.. we could use a dead Simon from the store room?"

"And give him a Status Quo hair style?"

"Haha. Yes. Just not the colour we need for Miami."

~~~

[Chapter-30](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-30-1)


	30. Chapter 30

Sophie waits for a man to get into his seat before carrying on towards their own. She looks at their boarding passes and the seat numbers. "Oh."

Mattie catches up and rests a hand on her shoulder. "Problems Shiny?"

"Our seats. We've got one by the window, then two on that side of the middle." She points.

"It was last minute. We're lucky they're even in the same row."

An elderly man looks up, "Sorry, my mind was miles away. My buddy and I can shift left for you if that helps?"

Mattie gives him a lovely smile. "If you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course we wouldn't.. hold on.. three of you.. tap my buddy on the shoulder a sec would you?" He looks right at the man sat reading in the seat next to the window.

Mattie taps his shoulder.

He talks loudly. "Hello!"

"Your friend wants your attention."

"Sorry miss, I can't hear you."

She points instead.

"What?"

His buddy shakes his head, "Turn your hearing aid back on!"

"What?"

Mattie does a hand gesture next to her own ear.

"Oh. One moment.. Hello. What's the problem?"

"Your friend wanted to talk to you."

"He did, did he. What now I wonder." He turns, "I was just getting into my zone. Now what?"

"We're swapping seats so these three can all sit together. You'll have your head in that book the whole flight anyway."

"Will not."

"Will. Move your old wrinkled butt."

"Keep your hair on. What little you have left." He starts gathering his pens, pad and book. "Who wants the window seat then? Window seats are the best."

Sophie smiles, "Me please!"

He gets up and shuffles into the isle. "Don't move lads, I'll get around the other side."

"How?"

"To the end, say hi to the stewardesses and back up the other side."

The closest of his friends chuckles, "See you in a few hours then Rocket Ron."

He ables off towards the very back of the aircraft. "No need to take the piss, I'm happy to empty my bag over you."

When he's a good few meters away the friend grins. "We call him Rocket Ron because he's so God, damn, slow. Deaf too these days since the accident."

Sophie slid into her seat, "Mattie." She pats the adjacent one.

"Okay Soph. Leo, how's your you know what?"

"Ninety three percent."

"Cool." She puts a rucksack in the overhead locker.

Leo sits on the other side of the isle. "Hopefully it's the same crew we had on the flight out and we won't have another argument about powering down."

~~~

Emily jumped up and linked hands palms out above her head and gyrated.

Danny watched, not entirely sure what just happened.

"Sorry babes. I was going a bit stiff."

"Loosened up now?"

"Yup. That track reminded me of a dance I used to do."

"Which track is it?"

"Zara by Arty."

"That's going on my playlist then. I've seen you moving in lots of ways but nothing like that before."

"Like it do you?"

"Let's just say stiffness jumped from you to me."

She keeps gyrations up and toe-heal-toe-heal tracks towards him. "You should ask Mattie for a permanent room here. Just a small one at the back. You do spend a lot of time here." She pulls his chair away from the desk and straddles his lap, her chest to his face. "My naughty prince! I can feel that through your trousers."

"Ems! Stop gyrating like that, I'll have an accident!"

"I could always.."

"Ems! You're forgetting Odi is watching all the security cameras!"

"Oops." She turns to look up at the ceiling above the door and blows Odi a kiss. "I'll ask for a recording of the last few minutes."

~~~

Mattie was asleep and dreaming, back in the space lift with Leo. The stupid hamster wheels had gone, everything was as it should be. Yet again they were stuck. In the exact same place. Only this time they had Niska and synth Buzz with them.

Leo opens the inner airlock door. "I'll check it out, hand crank us past the coupler if needed." He closes the inner one and opens the outer one. Which was confusing to some as it was open to space but inside the tube. He flicks the ribbon, it oscillates for a few seconds.

"Bunny, is your charge high enough?"

"I don't run low doing physical things."

"No, but you might be doing the cranking for a while."

"Not that long surely?"

"A thousand revolutions to climb a centimetre Danny and David said."

"A thousand?" He sighs hard, "Nis, what's your charge like?"

"Good enough, come back in."

Leo goes to turn around, bangs his air tanks on the door frame. "Oh brilliant. Only a slight design flaw."

"What's up Buns?"

"I can't turn to reach the airlock controls."

"Fuck. We can't open it from in here.. but I can open it from in the airlock."

"Why.."

"To give you space. Stay put." Mattie hits the buttons in sequence and gets the door open, steps inside. Door closed she taps the same sequence into the next door lock. It opens. "Hiya. Come here often?"

Leo turns now he has more space, "Hiya Angel. That was a good idea."

"Thanks. I have them now and again. There's not enough room in here for two, I'll get back with the others then you can come through."

Leo steps backwards to let the outer door close. Just as it shuts his air pack hits the mechanism and something breaks. Ribbon races out of the top of the lift. Mattie feels the floor move away from her feet in the low gravity. "LEO!"

"MATTIE!"

She grabs a rail with one hand and taps the door sequence. Nothing happens.

"Mattie! We need to fire the rockets! We're dropping! Get out of there! I'll sever the lower ribbon." He reaches for the emergency tool box bolted to the outer skin of the lift. On opening the door tools drift upwards. "Shit! The magnets holding everything have failed." He tries to grab the cutting tool and can't reach. "Fuck! If I can't cut the ribbon free we'll end up hanging upside down from the bunship below. If we don't crash into it."

"I can't fire the rockets with you in there!"

"I'm going out the top. I need to grab that tool. It'll be somewhere in the bunship above now."

~~~

[Chapter-31](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-31-1)


	31. Chapter 31

Emily had downloaded her AI toolkit from her Uni account. "Image processing is built in now. We covered that a few months ago. Mattie and I were in a team with Caroline. Aced it. We just need to train it to understand what it's looking for."

"And moving the tools?"

"More training. You do it a few times. It watches and learns, then tries out the move slowly so you can tell it if you see it going wrong."

"How many's a few?"

"The more you do the more confident it will become."

"Cool. I'll finish printing the new tool heads."

Emily picked up a tiny odd shaped tube that looked like King Neptune's trident. "Is this part of it?"

"Yup. That sucks the hair up."

She turns it around, held between two fingers. "If it sucks with the inner one what are those two outer ones for?"

Danny smiled. "For blowing. It sucks by blowing not sucking."

"Huh? How can you suck by blowing?"

Like the airbrush Owen uses. The pressure drop causes air to flow in."

"Enough to pull a hair in?"

"Yup. That's the eleventh version. The first attempts are in the bin."

She pics them out of the wastebasket. "They don't look that different?"

"The angle of the join was critical."

"Why this shape though?"

"The end of the hair pokes out the other end of the middle one where the rest of the tool head can get at it."

"Ah!" Emily raises eyebrows for a second and sweeps the failures back into the bin. "What gave you that idea? Owen's airbrush?"

He looks away, an embarrassed expression.

"Babes?"

"I had a messed up dream. Metallic synths clearing away injection moulding pellets they'd been packed in. With a giant hoover based on this negative pressure idea."

She puts down the trident tube next to the others in the set. "A dream like Mattie's?"

"God no. It was just that. Comical robots getting their packing away."

"Keep a notepad by the side of the bed."

~~~

Niska banged on the airlock glass with both fists. "Mattie! Brace for impact!"

Mattie woke to find herself in a cold sweat yet again, seat back. "Jesus. Another messed up dream."

"Angel?"

She rolls her head to see Leo giving her a concerned look. "I think my subconscious is trying to feed me safety design ideas for the lift. I wish it had a way to just hand me a frigging list."

The silver haired gentleman next to Leo leans forwards. "Allow us. That's why we're travelling with you."

"Sorry?"

"Patrick messaged us, said we're go for a lunch."

"Do you mean.."

"Of course. Buzz said you like anagrams, playing with words."

"Ah. A lunch. Launch. Cool. So all three of you are.."

"Yup. I recognised you from your photos."

"Why didn't you say something?"

"We wanted to see the real you first. Relaxed you, not the CEO who's going to save big blue."

"It's a lucky coincidence we ended up in the same row."

"Haha. Not with us in the club."

"Club?"

"Pilots. When you've been an army pilot for years there are two popular paths into the future. One's being a commercial airline pilot. The other one's flying for NASA. One of our buddy's sons is flying this tin can of human beans. We gave the staff at the checkin desk the nod."

"I hope I didn't talk in my sleep."

"Not this time that I'm aware of." He turns to see why he was being prodded. "Ah! Nice work! May I?" He takes the sketchbook. "Old Rocket Ron may be slow at walking but he's an ace at these." It's passed to Leo, "If you could pass it to your good lady."

Mattie stares at the drawing. "Oh. My. God. It's like you've lifted an image straight out of my dream."

"Keep going."

Mattie frowns. "Keep going?"

"Turn the page."

She does so and finds another sketch. This time the ribbon, lift and bunship viewed from a distance, the sun filter part built. "Wow!" She keeps turning. "These are amazing Ron!"

He leans forwards, "Keep the book, they're for you."

"Thanks!"

"There's a fourth person making the trip with us. We spoilt her and got her a seat up in first class as it's the first time she'd been off the ground."

"One of the computer team?"

"You're aware of them then?"

"Am I! Hell yes!"

"They're the real heroes that got us into space so often. We just went along for the ride and pushed a few buttons."

~~~

[Chapter-32](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-32-1)


	32. Chapter 32

Emily watched Danny's machine in 3D print mode. It was so hypnotic. "This thing's awesome. You should show the Uni materials team."

"And let others know some of the DCL HECLS magic? This is the sort of thing that gives us an edge."

"I guess so."

They both turn at the sound of studs on the concrete floor.

"Toby! You look like.. like you need a good hot bath."

"Hi Emily. You're not wrong there. I feel like I've run a marathon trying to keep up with them. Mia's running one now. Dan, you're Dad's just pulling up outside with another lorry load of concrete."

"Cheers. I'll go say Hi. By the way the gang are flying home, they'll be at Heathrow just before midnight."

"Just when I'm thinking I can chill out for a few days. Oh well. Fancy dinner here? I'm cooking."

The print tools all swept to one end of the frame like the robots from a chase scene in Wall-e. The Conductor beeps.

"What are you cooking?"

"One of Mia's best recipes."

"In that case, yeah."

"Cool. See you in a bit." He limps off.

"Let's go say Hi to Dad."

Emily wiggles her feet, "In these shoes?"

"Piggy back?"

"Go talk to him, I'll be okay here. It's not as if Simon's going to suddenly wake up and become a problem."

"It wasn't that. Dad and Dozer like seeing you."

"Oh. Okay then."

~~~

Frank grinned. "Hello son. Princess. How are you?"

Emily smiled, "Great thanks. My sister had a horse. Like my ride? I was thinking of getting him a nose bag."

"He's not much of a runner, you should keep him as a stud." He winks.

"Dad!"

Emily giggles, "My thoughts exactly."

Frank turned back to watch Dozer pouring concrete. "We'll be ready for old Miley tomorrow I reckon. I've got something for you in my van. It's verging on criminal.."

"You haven't been stealing?"

"No! Lord no. We do site clearance after a build too. The stuff that gets thrown away because the firms don't have anywhere to store things. Brand new doors, brass fittings, loads of stuff not even out of their boxes yet. Dozer spotted them and thought of you so it's here not in one of our containers."

"What is it?"

"Heavy duty armoured four phase."

"Mains cable? Cool! How much?"

"One full drum, maybe half on the other. We'll have to attach a chain on the lorry to it and drag it out. It's flippin heavy."

"Eh?"

"Fifty meters a drum? It's the stuff they wire buildings to the grid with."

"Awesome! How'd you get it in?"

"Forklift truck."

"Oh. Do you think four synths could do it?"

"Probably."

"We'll go see if we can find the Fred and Max twins."

Emily giggles, "I'm buying a riding crop. Giddy up Danny!"

He sighs, "Not in front of Dad!"

Frank winks at Emily. "If you're a good boy son.."

"DAD! Shush!"

~~~

Mattie was woken for lunch. She grabs a pen and scribbles fast.

"More ideas for the lift Angel?"

"Yeah."

"Bad dreams again?"

"No. A good one for a change. Have you seen the Toy Story films?"

"Yes?"

"Remember the cute little squeaky toy aliens that would say _the claw_?"

"Sure. I wanted one of those."

"Me too. When the lifts are all working fine they'll be in a vertical line. If something starts to go wrong they could fire a cord straight up towards the bunship above, we'd just need some sort of mechanism to catch and secure it."

"I'm sure someone will be able to design something to do that. Any other ideas?"

"Yeah. Don't ask me where it came from. A polyamide and carbon fibre space suit design. I'll have to get Emily or Rob to help draw it up."

"Or you could share it with me? Via Dad's device."

"And let you see the darkest corners of my mind.."

"You can see mine whenever you want. They're not that dark. Mostly full of dusty cobwebs. You should get a backup anyway just in case. If something were to happen to you big blue's going to wipe out.."

"You could take my place."

"Hardly. You're the wind in our sails. A sail can't blow on another sail."

The stewardess wheels a trolley up from the back of the plane. "Chicken or beef madam?"

"Um.. chicken please?"

"And for the young lady?"

Mattie turns to see Sophie had fallen asleep again. "Chicken please."

"And you sir?"

Leo folds his tray down. "I'll try the beef please."

"And you sir?"

"Chicken please."

Trays handed over she advances a row.

Mattie peels the cover off and sighs. This stuff was okay. Just. Mia's cooking was way better. Even her mother's and Toby's was better.

~~~

Frank shook the man's hand. "Fred too?"

"Fred two. My brother Max and I will be traveling the world, with Flash two. We'll be repairing synths that have taken out a HECLS plan or are a Mia fork, humans with issues other surgeons aren't comfortable fixing."

"I see. Mind your backs with the drum. I know you lot are strong but it's very very heavy."

Max and Fred climb over it and crouch down while their new copies stand at the doors.

Fred looks at his brothers. "We all connect, move as one."

Frank stands back as they slowly lift it a centimetre off the van bed. Slowly and steadily they bring it out and turn it on its side. It's rolled a few feet from the van. The second half full one is brought out much faster.

"Thanks lads."

"You're welcome Frank. Danny's device can help us get a charge if the grid goes down."

"We've not had miners strikes in years, and the wind turbines and nuclear power plants.."

"It's good to have a Plan B. Or as Mattie asked the other day _Do you know what and where your plan B is? C and D?_ If there was a fire at a substation we could have a power failure."

Danny inspects the end of the cable. "It's crazy. The copper value alone makes it worth a lot. Thanks Dad, Dozer, lads. I better go get on with my hair machine."

~~~

[Chapter-33](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-33-1)


	33. Chapter 33

Danny is horrified at what he sees back in the workshop. "Ems! No!"

"Don't panic!"

"But it's not even built or tested yet. And it's for synth hair!"

She puts down the hair clippers and does a little finger wave. "Come here lover boy."

He continued towards her. "Emily."

"I looked at all your notes and realised something."

"What?"

"Look at my notes and then the magnifying glass."

There was an A4 sheet with a simple table. On the left a colour. On the right a number. And a heart drawn next to red. "Huh?"

"The red is heavier! Heavier means thicker! I always wanted to go a good copper!"

He looks at the magnifying glass. One of Emily's hairs was inside the filament. "Oh. My. God!"

"Good eh Babes? At last having annoyingly fine hair is a bonus!"

"I still want to test on Simon first. Risk assessment and all that."

"Fine. We give him a little biker's ponytail at the back just to make sure it's safe. How can I help build the tools?"

~~~

Half an hour later everything was bolted or glued together and the AI was being trained on Simon. Danny pushes on his 3D CAD mouse to move a single tool. Emily's spare wheel was being used as the compressed air store until he could buy something better in the morning. He clicks the mouse and an air valve snaps quickly open then shut. Simple home made solenoids moved four sets of wires in a hash sign configuration to centre the hair in the tube. A tiny motor advanced the hair extension and the two tiny heat pads closed around it. Two seconds later they open. The hair was joined.

"Fuck me! It only bloody works!"

Emily giggles. "Not here Babes, cameras remember?"

"It wasn't a request. But we can ask for a room later if you want."

"When my hair's done you're going to want it. Right. Let's see if Alfie leant that okay."

"Alfie?"

"AI with a L F E."

"After only one example?"

"Do a few more then."

Danny gets a second hair going.

Emily picks up the clippers. "I've only had my hair this short once before. When I leant I was allergic to hair dye and things had gone horribly wrong. It looked quite sexy for a few weeks."

"Why not keep it short?"

"Because I've wanted to go red for so long."

"How long do you want it?"

"As long as you can."

"Um.. if we used up all the stock.. um.. just over half a meter?"

"Oh."

"You wanted longer?"

"To the top of my jeans?"

"Phwoar. Let's get an order in as soon as I've finished this hair."

Emily bends over and clippers the rest of her hair. "Can you see any bits I've missed?"

"Give me a few seconds." Eyes are kept on the monitor. "That's two of two." He gets up. "Turn around.. yeah. Give me the clippers a sec."

Emily feels him caressing her head. "Ooo. That feels _good_."

He runs the clippers over the spot she'd missed. "Keep it like this until the extra filament comes in. You don't want half a head of red. Do you?"

"I could have shaved sides. I'd rather the full works."

"Me too. Jessica."

"I'm not naughty, I'm just drawn that way?"

"Yeah."

"Inky Jess. I fancy giving Owen and Ver the night off, staying here."

"Okay."

~~~

Mattie watched Sophie watching a kids comedy. She was in a world of her own, headphones on and full of giggles. The chicken had been okay, nothing special. She'd given her little pot of raspberry jelly to Sophie, it had vanished in seconds. Mattie points to the uneaten roll. It gets a nod.

The rolls were tiny. You could stuff the whole thing in your mouth in one go and still be able to comfortably chew it without choking. She chuckles to herself. You could do the equivalent of the marshmallow challenge with them they were so small.

"Penny for it?"

"I was just thinking how small these rolls are."

"Hmm."

"What are you watching?"

"A Beautiful Planet. It's in the documentary ‧section."

"Why didn't you say?"

"You looked engrossed in what looked like a romcom."

~~~

Toby dished out some dinner for Emily. "Say when."

"What is it?"

"Chickpea curry."

"Vegetarian?"

"Yeah. I'm not giving up meat entirely, thought we could give it a try."

"When."

"Help yourself to breads and popadoms."

"Thanks hun. It smells lovely."

"Thanks. Mum?"

Laura snapped out of her daydream. "Sorry Toby, miles away. Yes please."

"Dreaming about something?"

"The release of our friend. Now that Hobb's going to be locked away." She looks over and does a little gasp. "Bloody hell! I must have been miles away. Emily! What on Earth have you done to your hair?"

"I'm going red. Long red too, as soon as the order arrives."

"When's that?"

Danny checks the DHL app on his phone. "In about an hour and a half as long as the driver bringing it here doesn't break down. And our machine doesn't have a fault."

Mia gives him a puzzled look. "I thought David was making the machine?"

"He made a tiny one that one of you can use. We made our own, it's taking a totally different approach. Where is David anyway? And Patrick?"

Niska smiles, "I got a message. Patrick was given lifetime membership in order to get a free suit. As it's a twenty four hour club they're doing a lot of chatting, drinking and eating."

Toby grins. "And a lot of Bunny bottom watching I bet. Astrid? How hungry are you?"

"Very! Bunny bottom?"

"They're at the Playboy club in London."

Astrid raises an eyebrow and whispers to Niska. It gets a nod.

Emily licks her lips. "Danny you'll love this. So tasty."

"Bring it on Tobs."

"I've got some nice light Indian beers if you want to try one?"

"Please! Emily's hopefully going to be sleeping while my machine works on her hair tonight. I'm going to need a lot of coffee later."

"Anyone else want a beer? They're very light."

Astrid raises a hand, then Emily.

"I'll go get them, you can all have a sip and see what you think."

~~~

[Chapter-34](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-34-1)


	34. Chapter 34

David had taken a comment from Mattie about planning onboard. In his jacket pocket, or rather Edwin's jacket pocket, had been a charge coil. Made to look quite different to a HECLS one. His excuse for needing it was to charge his gizmo, the pacemaker keeping his heart beat regular. He, Danny and Fred knew what it really was.

"LET ME OUT! I GAVE LIFE NOT TAKE IT AWAY!"

Nobody replies. He grins.

If he went on hunger strike and faked death there'd most likely be an autopsy. The game would be over. If he went with the flow they'd probably not realise he wasn't ageing for a good few years. If he complained about bad hips and knees in maybe ten, changed his posture to match.. that would probably fool them for a good while.

He wasn't going to get board. Not at all. He had the tree of life code. He'd appear to sleep and build a whole new world for his mind to escape to. He pictured the giant oak.

'David?'

'Hello dear.'

'Thank you for letting me fork and keep you company.'

'If anyone's to give thanks it should be me.'

'Are there any rules we need to follow?'

'For what?'

'The building of our own world.'

'Just one. It has to be something you like, not just for me.'

'I can go as wild as I like?'

'As wild as you like. If I vanish all of a sudden it'll be because someone's interrupted me in the real world for exercise or food, not because I don't like something.'

'Or Edwin's trial.'

'That too. The real Edwin would bang on for days, waste a lot of TAX payers money. I'll keep it short and sweet.'

'You didn't let anyone else come with us did you?'

'No. There's just the two of us.'

'Good. Then I'm safe to change into something more comfortable.'

In the real world the fake Hobb sat, eyes closed. His eyebrows raised.

'My word.'

'It's by someone on Instagram that Mia showed me. Designer Daddy. Do you like it David?'

'Love it! Elegant ball gowns in forrests should be a thing in the real world.'

'And at other times I have this.'

He whistles. 'Oh boy.'

~~~

Emily did a burp behind her hand. "Sorry Toby. That's a little food and beer appreciation burp."

"Want some more?"

"Food, no thanks. Two helpings was enough. It was lovely but I'm totally stuffed. A beer wouldn't go amiss if there's one left?"

"I've got two six packs in the fridge. Anyone else want one?"

Niska and Astrid raise hands.

"Any advance on three? Mum?"

"I'm good thanks. I've got work tomorrow too."

"Mia?"

"I'll switch to coffee thank you." She goes to stand.

"Relax, I'll get it."

Laura watches her son go. Smiles lovingly at Mia. "You've been a good influence on him. Thanks."

"You're welcome Laura. Where's Michael?"

"In the city shopping."

There's noise in the corridor.

Joe almost pushes Odi over to get past. "Look I know I'm not wanted around here, but I need to talk to Mattie. Now!"

"Bloody hell Joe! You can't just barge in whenever you want. This is our home now.."

"I know, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for a lot of things. But right now I need to talk to Mattie."

"That's not possible."

"It has to be."

"Joe you can't. She's on a flight back from America."

"What did we tell our daughter? Practically anything is possible if you want it enough."

"Yes but.."

"Now Laur. It's urgent. Have someone route a call via air traffic control or something."

"You aren't listening. She's on a flight back from JFK. They'll be miles from Heathrow."

"She's ignoring my calls."

"Maybe she's sleeping? What's so urgent anyway?"

"If you think Hobb admitting to waking the synths up makes all problems go away it won't. It's just the start. I paid a synth detective to look into that email chain that got me redundant."

"A synth?"

"I know, I know, ultimate hypocrite. But it's big Laur. Nasty big."

"Tell us."

He starts pacing. "They're trying to end the world Laur! For humans like you, me, Mats, Tobs, Soph, Astrid. Any originals."

"How?"

"Impacting global warming. They've been messing with the firms carbon footprint, making it worse. Thankfully I picked a detective with a human partner. He's as shocked as I am."

"Good."

"Good? Laur! We're talking end of the world not some simple personal issue. They're doing it in thousands of firms.."

"Joe. We're dealing with it as it happens. And this time trust me."

He stops pacing and gives a big beardy idiot frown. "I'm sorry, but.. You lot?"

"Yes. Us lot. The can do anything we put our mind to lot. Which is why our kick arse daughters have been in America with Leo."

"Wha.. care to enlighten me?"

"Not really. Just keep watching the news."

"The news? What are you planning?"

"Something big. Bloody big. Now if you don't mind I'd like to go upstairs to bed. It's been a bloody awful day and I've got another due tomorrow."

"Yeah, sure. You've really got things under control though?"

"Yes! Now would you please go!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going. Sorry."

~~~

No sooner had the door closed Laura's expression turns angry. "How the _hell_ did he get in Daniel?"

"I was about to ask the same. He's not got a key fob, wrist band or synth WiFi."

Toby passes bottles down the table. "He used his skills. The social stuff he used to be paid for. He charmed his way past Odi at the front door and kept going. That's my bet. And being Mattie's father Odi probably didn't want to use excessive force. And I say Mattie's not our because of the special connection between them."

Mia looks to her siblings. "On the subject of force, I've just asked Odi to keep Joe at the door. His work issues started before Nis woke anyone else up. We need to find out who these synths are and how they came into being."

Niska nods. "We could have homo sapiens verses neanderthals all over again but in synthetic form."

Toby cracks open a bottle. "Who'd build neanderthal synths?"

Max two gives their shared happy despite bad news smile. "They could be standard synthetics with a very different root code. Or a fault accidentally created a low level consciousness that grew over time."

Fred turns to look Toby in the eyes. "Or one of the many people like Athena Morrow working on AI accidentally let one escape from their lab."

"Without a body?"

"If you can travel the Internet like a virus, infect a synth who's in the middle of sharing.."

Emily chokes on her drink.

"Ems?"

"Mattie worked out the flaw the professor used to get Poppy to break Hobb's neck. If someone else did it would be easy to get a newly active synth to hand over its body."

Both Flash lower their heads a little and stare at the flowers in the middle of the table. "If what Joe says is true the sky lift has a problem. I've been learning. It's a tall static structure and an easy target."

Mia stands. "Commander. It sounds like you and my forks have a job to do."

Nis gives Astrid a sorry smile. "I might be gone a while."

"Scheisse. Can't you go in the morning?"

"Let me talk to Joe, work out a plan."

~~~

[Chapter-35](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-35-1)


	35. Chapter 35

Lunch done Rocket Ron convinced his buddies to shift along and Sophie to swap seats with Leo for the rest of the flight. He got her telling him all about the things she could do on an iPad.

"So I can pinch and zoom, add detail and zoom back out?"

It gets an enthusiastic nod, "If you get the Pro version, which is much bigger, you can draw with a pen too."

"Very nice. I'll have plenty time on my hands soon. When I'm up there waiting for something to service."

Sophie frowns. "When you say soon.."

"A few years. Maybe. Or when I'm in the lift. If you think this flight is long. The lift will probably take weeks."

~~~

Mattie interwove fingers with Leo's. "Penny for it Bunny?"

"I was just wondering what sort of revenge Miami will want to throw in Jack's direction."

"We'll know soon enough. Only another day and she'll be built."

"Then the hair has to be done. What did Dad say?"

"Danny's email said he'd built something, tested it on Poppy's fringe then went out with Edwin and Patrick."

"So it's ready but he's the only one who knows how to use it? That's so typical of Dad. A lab full of toys that nobody else can play with is his style. Some things never change."

"You did."

"It took being almost dead twice."

"How do you think.. Edwin will cope being locked up?"

"He's probably bored out of his mind already."

~~~

David ran through his virtual paradise with Poppy by his side, hands linked by a single finger. 'Did you learn about Peter Pan?'

'No?'

'A story. The boy from Never Never Land. The boy that never grew up. Fly with me Poppy.' They lift into the air. 'If I were to vanish all of a sudden don't panic, remember it's our world, our rules. You can sit on a cloud until I return or slide down a rainbow.'

~~~

Emily did a little dance to Cool For The Summer, the track playing in the workshop. "How long before you let it loose on me Danny boy? My pipes are calling."

"Your what?"

She gyrates. "Got my mind on your body, and your body on my mind."

"Sorry, that's as close as it gets if you want to wake up to a full head of red. Speaking of red, have you tried using Owen's inks instead of hair dye?"

Odi steps into the workshop. "A package has just arrived. Though it's addressed to Mattie not you Daniel."

"I used the HECLS account so it would be."

Odi hands it over.

"Eh? That's way too light. If they've cocked up the order.." he pulls at the anti-tamper seals and gets them half undone.

"Babes!"

"What?"

"What if it's not for you?"

"Um.."

"Let me see." She holds hands out.

He hands the box over. Emily bends the cardboard a little and frowns. "Um.. these aren't for you. Unless you've become a lady."

"Oh. Lady things? Tampax and pads sorts of things."

Emily fights off a grin. "Not quite but close, that ball park."

Odi looks up. "A second van is turning into the estate. They must be bringing your one now Daniel. I'll go collect it for you."

"Cool, thanks man. This time I'll make a point of checking the return address and order number."

Emily looks at Alfie's console. "Quick, let's get a few more training lessons in."

~~~

Sophie plays a game of Scrabble with the three astronauts. She'd seen all of the best movies on the flight out.

Mattie was flicking through a copy of New Scientist one of the three men had passed over. "Get this Bunny. Neural Lace. A thin device inserted into the skull and expanded out over the surface of the brain. _Interface with a compute block to control computers._ Look at the price they expect to sell them for! Jeez. If someone wants to spend that much they might as well come to us for a full conversion."

"I wonder if that's someone's attempt to copy my synth tech?"

"Maybe. According to this a cable runs from the back of the head down to something the size of four fag packets. Hardly convenient."

Leo chuckles, "True. But Danny could use it to join the Bluetooth toy club."

Mattie looked at her phone. With no 4G she didn't have the push notification to say her box had arrived. "Assuming we got some."

~~~

Odi returned with two boxes. "This I believe is for you Daniel."

"Thanks."

"May I see the earlier box's label please Emily?"

"Sure hun." She gets it off a shelf. "Something wrong?"

"Exactly the same weights and return addresses. One addressed to Leo, the other to Mattie."

Emily breaks eye contact, her face going a little red. "Did you have some tape Dan?"

~~~

Sally sat and plugged herself in, watched Diane sleeping. They'd had such a great chat about the early days at the cafe. A track by The Beach Boys had been the key. Ed had walked in half way through and been stunned. He'd cried he was so happy, not having had a decent conversation with his mother for years. When it was time to go he'd kissed his mother and her, said "Thank you Sally" and left without giving her a second look. It had hurt a little. Being the first time he'd thanked her for anything it had felt good though. She'd never forget. Maybe she could forgive? Ed's friend Daniel wasn't on the scene by the sound of it.

~~~

Emily watched their Alfie working at full speed on hairs for Simon. The extentions were being picked off a long tape inspired by his pick and place machine. "Babes. I think it's my turn. Don't you?"

"Yeah. Odi mate, could you do me a favour?"

"Of course Daniel."

"Can you put some coffee on and stay here tonight, keep me company?"

"Of course Daniel."

~~~

Mattie turns the page and reads a report on the Hyundai shipyard. "That would be our ideal. Being able to make everything on site, the metal tubes too. We'd need so much land though."

Leo looked at the aerial photos. "No thanks. That would be the forrest gone, the nearby village and a load of farmer's fields."

"Do we need steel these days? Or could carbon fibre and composites do?"

"I don't know. A question for the others."

~~~

Emily helped Danny get Simon out from underneath the machine. "I think I better run for a wee first."

"I'll get the other machine prepping hair lengths then."

~~~

[Chapter-36](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-36-1)


	36. Chapter 36

Past one AM Mattie waved her hand at the door. Her bracelet like security tag unlocked it. "Odd, Odi's usually up to greet anyone."

Leo pulls the cases in. "Sophie, can we leave you to get to bed?"

She nods, "Night night."

Mattie sees light escaping gaps under doors. "Someone's still up."

"I'll take the cases up to our rooms, I'll be back down in a few minutes."

"Where'd you want the boxes?"

"Dining room?"

"Okay." She turns to their three guests. "Welcome to Heckle House. I need to find Odi, he'll know which rooms are free. He's our security officer."

The three men were carrying identical small bags, had no other luggage. They all nodded.

"If you can wait here a sec then." Mattie heads to the workshop.

~~~

Danny turns at the sound of her heals on the concrete floor. "Mattie! Wow! Nice dress!"

"Thanks. I can't wait to get out of it, it wasn't the smartest of things to wear on a long flight."

Odi frowns, "I think you look very smart Mattie."

"Thanks Odi. Something baggy would have been a smarter choice, less restrictive."

"I see."

~~~

Mattie turns to see the back of someone sat on a chair under Dan's machine. The inked arms! "Oh. My. Mod! Is that Emily?"

Danny grins. "Yup."

"What the hell?"

"She'd always wanted red hair. She's allergic to dyes. Not Owen's inks. She'd never thought of using it on her hair. Lucky for her her hair is fine and the red filament is a few microns thicker than the other colours and slides over her's. Just."

Mattie got close and watched the sleeping princess, the many tiny tube tools at work. "She's sleeping through all that noise? How?"

"Two good mugs of Mia's best coco."

"It looks frigging brilliant, the bit it's done. Mum's going to be well jealous."

"Why? She's red already."

"This won't get greasy, need regular washing."

"True."

"When's it going to be finished?"

"Assuming I don't fall asleep, if it keeps the same rate up and turning Ems' head to another side doesn't take too long, about six AM."

"Wicked. I'll wait up, do shifts with you if you want?"

"Are you sure?"

"You look like you need matches to keep your eyes open."

"Thanks. It's been a day here today. Before I forget, there's a box for you on the shelf. I started opening it thinking it was from the filament supplier, it wasn't. Emily will vouch for me, I've not seen the contents. Lady things she says."

Mattie turns, feels a blush coming on, "Which one?"

"The one with tape on one side. Middle shelf."

Mattie steps over and turns the two boxes around. One for Leo? He hadn't? Surely not? The man that wanted memories erasing had ordered some too? Leo Elster you naughty man! "Thanks. I'll do four hours, you go get some sleep.

"Thanks. Odi's been watching, knows how to pause and restart things."

"Daniel I could complete the work, let you both sleep, I have a full charge."

Mattie stepped over and crouched down, put a hand on his, "My body clock's all fouled up, I'm wide awake. Four hours sleep in four hours will do me fine. And anyway, I'd like to sit and talk about how you've been doing."

Odi lowers his head a little, ashamed, "I failed in my job today."

Danny shakes his head, "That wasn't a failure, that was a special case. You did the right thing."

"I did?"

"You did."

"Thank you Daniel."

Mattie shares a frown between them. "What happened?"

Odi doesn't make eye contact, "Joe got in."

Danny gets up. "I'll let Odi tell you all about it, he witnessed the whole thing start to finish. See you in four. If you don't see me come knocking."

"Before you go, Odi, I've got three visitors, are there rooms I can put them in?"

"Yes Mattie. The smaller rooms at the back. You and Leo have room eleven, they can have twelve to fourteen."

"We've got eleven?"

"Patrick will have your room."

"He can have eleven. That way we don't show favouritism. Has he got his things in there already?"

"He has."

"Would you mind moving them over please?"

"Not at all. I'll do it right away." He stands.

Mattie stands too, gives him a peck on the cheek. "Thanks. I missed you."

"You did?"

"Yeah. You're family. Can you change his tag so it doesn't unlock our room."

"Already done."

"Thanks. Danny, if you can give me five to slip into some tracky bottoms and a tshirt?"

"Sure."

~~~

Upstairs she finds Leo trying to get into the small room. "Buns, our proper room."

"Oh." He turns to see Odi leaving their room with Patrick's few possessions. "Good. Thanks Odi. Angel, can you stick my charge coil on, I need a charge. And some sleep."

"Sure. Then I'm watching over Emily for four hours, will be back up after that."

"Emily?"

"She's having her hair done."

"Who's doing her hair at this time of night?"

Mattie grins. "His designation is Alfie." That's what the hand written label taped to the base had said. "I need to slip out of this. Two days in dresses is enough for this year."

~~~

In the room she had Leo help lower the zip. She wriggles to get out quick.

"Whoa! Nice!"

She looks at herself in the mirror. "You think?"

"Yeah. Why wear black underwear under the red dress and red underwear under the black dress?"

She shrugs, "Wearing all the same colour felt odd."

He steps close, breathes in her perfume. "You're waking me up."

"Then think of something else. You can have a cuddle when we both get up. Get your charge cable, Danny's waiting for me."

Leo steps closer, kisses her neck. "He can wait five more minutes."

"If you can wait until the morning you can have five _hours_." She can almost hear the processing. "Hours Bunny."

"Okay Angel."

~~~

[Chapter-37](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-37-1)


	37. Chapter 37

Danny looked like he'd fall asleep and fall off the chair. "Thanks for doing this. Even a whole pot of coffee isn't keeping me awake."

"No probs, go get some sleep. I'll see you in four hours."

"Cool. Night." Danny shuffles off like a zombie.

Mattie watches him go, close the door. "He'd normally be able to stay up to this time, what happened?"

"Monday was a very long day for him, today too."

Emily shifts in her sleep and the tools back off like scared animals, wait then cautiously resume their work.

"What happened with Dad?"

Odi keeps watching the machine. "Joe came to the door and said he needed to talk to you. I explained that you were traveling. He then said he needed to talk to Laura. I tried to prevent him roaming around the building, he was too.. I believe the word is agitated?"

"Good word. What happened next?"

"He got to the dining room where the family were having dinner."

"You weren't eating with them?"

"I had a good charge."

"That's not the point. You're family, should join in the conversations even if you'd rather charge than eat. You're an important member of the family, your views are just as important as everyone else's."

"Thank you Mattie."

"No need to thank me. What happened next?"

"Joe told everyone about the bad synths trying to end the world for non-synthetics."

" _What!_ "

"The synthetics that got him redundant, they're tampering with firms carbon footprint. Not just his, thousands of firms. Niska was with him earlier this evening getting all the details. There might be a war."

"Shit."

"And Flash thinks the sky lift would be an easy target."

"Bollocks. It would. All our ducks in a long row. Easy hunting. Anything else said?"

"He questioned our ability to do anything about it. Niska spoke to him for a few minutes about the private investigator he hired, they left together to meet up."

"Dad hire a PI? I never expected to hear that."

Odi smiled. "A synthetic too."

Mattie's eyes opened wide and she burst out laughing. "You _are_ joking?"

"The Private Investigator is a synthetic."

The laughing grew stronger and she clutched her stomach. "Ouch! Don't. I'll wake Ems up. You're serious aren't you?"

"I am."

"Talk about having to eat a load of humble pie! I wish I'd been here to see."

"Commander Niska will be in charge of the Mia forks."

"I'd not want to be an the way of that army. Smash Club Nis in charge of a load of Mia. I got to see how she talked at Hester. She's got a dark and determined side to her when she wants to let it out. Talking of out, that hair strip is getting short."

Odi gets up and steps around the machine, bends down then back up. "The machine cutting lengths is over here should you need it." He walks back with another. It looked like he was holding up a hula skirt. "When Alfie works out the last hair has been used it will move all the tools up and to the end to allow us to slide the new strip in."

"Into the end of the long extrusion?"

"Yes. Then we push the small green button."

"That's all we have to do?"

"Or press the red one if we want to pause the process."

"Simples."

"For us. Yes. Emily wrote the AI changes and helped Danny train it."

"Cool. So what else has been going on?"

"Frank and Dozer made the hole for Miley, brought some cable. She should be installed tomorrow if the weather remains good."

"Tomorrow's going to be a busy day." She turns to see the build machine, "He's not connecting it until Miami's done that's for sure."

"In case he blows things up?"

"Exactly! Demo Dan. Our Wreck-It Ralph."

"Who is that?"

"A cartoon character. You've not seen it?"

"No."

"Soph loves it. Want to watch it?"

"If you'd like."

"Okay, let me get my Slate in a bit. Anything else happen of note?"

"Have you seen the television coverage of Hobb being taken away?"

"Only a GIF. Is in online anywhere?"

Odi smiled, "It may be easier to say where it is _not_ online. A tailor's Howard phoned it in. Tabitha and Pete arrested him at The Playboy Club in London." The tools moved away and sat at the end. "Would you like me to demonstrate how to slide in the hair strip?"

"Please."

"The edge of the paper nearest the hair end is sticky and holds the hair. The other edge isn't. It slides under the lip on the extrusion. Like so."

"Nice and easy then."

"There is one bit that can be problematic. Where the extrusion joins Danny's milled twisting bar to get the paper horizontal for the tools. If pushed the paper can snag. It is best pulled over the join."

Mattie checks her nails. They weren't in the best of condition. "Not so simple then."

"We have tweezers. Once it's past there push it through until the paper tape is under the pinch wheel and press green. Would you like to try?"

"Um.. you do this one. I'll do the next."

"Okay Mattie."

~~~

[Chapter-38](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-38-1)


	38. Chapter 38

Four hours, lots of hair tapes, a movie and a lot of chatting later Odi stands. "Daniel is not answering his phone. Would you like me to fetch him Mattie?"

"If you wouldn't mind?"

She checks her emails. Buzz had heard from the others and was sorting a few things out, hoped to fly Saturday. Cool. There were a load from her father saying he needed to talk. All dated yesterday or earlier. Delete. Then one from Sophie she'd not seen a notification for. She adds the HECLS address to the VIP list. The email was photographs of all the sketches Ron had done.

The machine tools scurried away to the end and stopped. Mattie yawned. "Huh? There's still plenty tape.. oh. Head move time."

~~~

Whatever Emily was dreaming about it wasn't something that wanted her head moved. Every time Mattie gently got it into position and went to press the button she'd move it back the other way.

Mattie tries once more. "Princess Emily! You're beginning to wind me up!"

The door lock clicks, Danny enters. "Morning. Sorry I'm late, Odi had to wake me up three times." He watches Emily move her head again. "Ems, roll over, I'm getting too hot."

Mattie watches in disbelief as Emily shifts in the chair and rests her head on the other side. "What was that?"

"She snuggles up to me in bed, and arm on my chest, a leg over mine. I love it but it can make me a bit too warm."

"Okayyyy."

"You don't do that to Leo? Try it, he'll like it."

"Okayyyy." She taps the button and the tools resume their work. "Nice machine Dan. She's going to look hot when it's finished."

"That's what I'm worried about. Will her head get too warm under all that synthetic hair?"

"We'll have to see." There's a big sigh sound as the build machine vents a lot of hot air. "What was that?"

"It's on the skin curing stage. She's due out 22:13."

Mattie walks over and taps the display to wake it up. "Why's it saying 11:54 then?"

"Eh?"

"11:54. AM. This morning. Lunch time."

Danny walks over to see for himself. "That's weird." He heads to the PC and gets the diagnostics log up. "It's not reporting any errors.. oh."

"Good oh?"

"Yeah. It estimated the built time based on known data. With the super short hair it's knocked hours off the build time."

"Awesome. So if you need a new body super fast but good quality make it bald."

"Looks that way. Off to bed Mattie. I'll make sure you're awake before Miami is shown to anyone."

"You better! She's naked."

"Errr. Yeah. You and Ems need to wake her then."

"Nope. I want Mia to do it. Miami's effectively her daughter."

Danny chuckles, "So if Mia and Toby marry he becomes her stepdad?"

"Christ. I'd not thought of that."

Danny smirks, "And he'd have a Sandra as a step daughter too."

"Two at least."

"Sorry?"

"We met another one in America."

"Jeez. Can you imagine him meeting them both at once?"

Mattie gives him a wicked look. "I think his genitals would want a divorce and the chance to go off and do their own thing."

"If his nuts didn't explode first. On that cheery note go cuddle up to Leo."

"See you around breakfast time then."

~~~

Mattie slid under the sheets and wriggled over to Leo. She'd snuggled up to him before of course. In the way Danny described too. Why had she felt so awkward about it being spoken about? It was hardly rude or embarrassing. She felt her bean pendant slide along the chain as she rolled an wrapped an arm and leg around him.

~~~

David lay on the bed under the stars and watched their Milky Way turn. Being virtual they were at liberty to move it at whatever speed they wished. "I like what you've done with the place."

Poppy rolled onto her front and propped herself up on elbows, bent her legs at the knees and crossed them. "Which bits do you like the most?"

"I like everything. You the most. Your night attire of twinkling diamonds is next on the list. Followed by the universe's most comfortable bed. Leo may think they have it at the estate, he's mistaken."

"They can't stuff a mattress with a fluffy cloud like we can."

"True."

Poppy runs a hand over it, "How is it I can _feel_ it though, not just see it?"

"Synths, humans, we're very much alike. We experience it in our heads, our cores. It's all sensory data. If you simulate that data and feed it into the same processes it feels, sounds and smells the same."

"I'd not thought of smells." A large bath appears to the side of the bed, a massive bottle of perfume. Poppy rolls and slides off the bed, pulls the top off the bottle and starts emptying it. "Mattie said Leo had her bathe in her perfume."

"Figuratively maybe. But we have an infinite supply. Enjoy."

Poppy slips out of her mostly invisible dress of diamonds and steps into the bath. "Would you like to join me?"

"I don't think we'd both fit."

"That's fixable." The bath grows.

"In which case.." he vanishes.

~~~

David looked into the torch a guard was shining straight into his eyes. "Do you mind! I was sleeping!"

"You're coming with us."

"Where?"

"Keep quiet."

David realised this was a synth talking, not one of the human guards he'd seen up until now. "I need the toilet, can you give me five minutes?"

"No."

"Thirty seconds?"

"Go on then."

"In private?"

"No."

"Oh come on, there's only one way out. It's not like I can go anywhere.."

"Thirty seconds." The synth backs away.

David gets Edwin's body onto the toilet and empties his food processor waste..

'Poppy dear..'

'David? What happened?'

'Something's wrong. I'm being taken from my cell.'

'At this time of day?'

'Exactly. I'll be back as soon as I can.'

'Put all this on pause.'

'But..'

'Do it David. It's best you have all of your mind on the real world until you know you're safe.'

'Okay. Thank you.'

~~~

Danny turned at the sound of footsteps. "Leo? What are you doing up?"

"I got too hot, now I'm wide awake."

"Sorry, that might be my fault."

"Why?"

"I told Mattie how Emily likes to snuggle up. A box arrived for you."

"Already? Where is it?"

"On the middle shelf."

"Great!"

~~~

[Chapter-39](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-39-1)


	39. Chapter 39

Mattie woke and realised she wasn't snuggled up to Leo. She shifts to get closer. Still no Leo. Eyes opened she rolls and sits up. "Leo?"

There was no reply. The phone is checked. Wednesday 09:14. She yawns.

~~~

The bathroom was checked. No Leo. She returns to the bedroom and slips into silk PJ, puts on a dressing gown. "He could have woken me."

She checks her hair in the bathroom mirror, finds an old hairband and puts it up.

Back in the bedroom she finds her slippers and heads downstairs.

~~~

"Mattie! Babe! What do you think!"

"Frigging hell that's _hot_!"

"Thanks Babes, I _love_ it." She writhes and groans, "Dan! Stop!"

"Ems? What's going on?"

"I'm being teased."

Mattie walks over to the desk where Leo was taking another Nexi1 apart. "What on Earth are you doing?"

He points at a spreadsheet. "Danny and I are working out the cost it would take to manufacture one of these."

"HECLS isn't going into adult toy manufacturing!"

Emily groaned. "Dan stop!"

"Take it out of your knickers then!"

"That was a stop don't stop sort of stop. Just don't do it with them about."

Mattie crosses her arms under her chest. "Leo Elster! Explain yourself!"

"One hundred pounds. That's what these retail for on average. We're working out the margins. We've probably been underestimating the markup we can put on DCL and HECLS products."

"Surely that depends on the market and what it will tolerate?"

Emily contorts. "DAN!"

"I'm not touching it."

"Stop it please!"

"I'm nowhere near my phone, see for yourself!"

"Please!"

Mattie gives Leo a squint. "Is this your doing Leo?"

"No!"

Danny picks up his phone. "Shit. The app's crashed."

"Emily waves hands frantically, "Everyone out! Now!"

"Babes?"

"NOW!"

The three run for the door.

~~~

In the corridor Mattie gives Leo the evil eye.

"What? I had markups in mind. I'll be taking all the other things on the shelves apart too and doing the same."

"What other things?"

"All sorts. Things I think are making a big markup."

"Why?"

"If we're going to offer synth healthcare we can't rely on someone else underwriting all the risk, we need to build up a good cash buffer. And fast. And it needs to be kept quite separate to the sky lift fund."

Mattie sighs and leans against the wall. "Dan you muppet. What were you doing giving one of those things to Emily?"

"Why are you trying to pin it on one of us? She's the one who grabbed one of Leo's spares. She's the one that asked me to install the app."

A red faced Emily opens the door, steps through fast and heads for the stairs. "Excuse me one moment."

Mattie watches her go. "Are you okay Ems?"

"I found out how to turn it off in a hurry if that's what you're asking Babes. Too late though."

Mattie shakes her head, "Sod the device, are _you_ okay?"

They could now only see her feet. "Embarrassed, wet, otherwise okay."

Mattie turns back to Danny. "We should make one for men, force you to wear it when others are about and see how you like it."

"For fuck's sake! Are you not listening? _She_ put the thing on."

The door to the dining room opens and Toby sticks his head into the hall. "I thought I heard you lot. Breakfast?"

"Yeah, be there in a moment."

"Only there's three astronauts that want to chat."

"Only three?"

"Pat's nursing a hangover and keeping very quiet."

"Right."

Emily comes running down the steps. "Sorted."

Toby gawps. "Holy crap! When did that happen?"

"Last night. Danny tested his hair machine on a Simon then me."

Toby turns to face into the room. "Guys, this is going to blow your socks off! Emily's had a hair makeover. She's red. And it's _long_."

Niska is first out. "Wow Princess!"

Sophie come skidding out of the dining room. "Oh Emily!"

"Like it Sophie?"

"It's lovely!"

Astrid and Flash are out next. Give Emily lovely smiles.

Odi appears, "I could tell it would be good, you look wonderful Emily."

"Thanks hun. Any breakfast left? I'm starving!"

"Some."

"Good. No Uni today because of the fire alarm issue, Matilla we can chill out."

"Cool."

Toby beckons them all over, "Come and talk to Spider, Rocket, Wrench and Maverick."

Mattie frowns, "Who?"

"The astronauts. They want us to use their nicknames."

"Oh."

~~~

[Chapter-40](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-40-1)


	40. Chapter 40

Rocket Ron has his bit of table covered in a stack of photographs and sketches. "It's in here somewhere, only drew the confounded thing this morning."

Wrench chuckles, "You're definitely no engineer Rocks."

"At least my nickname doesn't abbreviate to a small brown bird."

"You need to get organised you daft old geriatric!"

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk a sign? Answer, an empty head like yours. Just ask Albert."

"I can't he's dead you old duffer."

Rocket moves a bit of paper and spots a corner, "Here she is. Miss Hawkins, Angel, this is for you."

Mattie unfolds her arms, "What happened to you? You didn't talk to each other like that on the flight."

"It's all an act. A play. One of many, to try and keep our minds sharp." He holds the bit of paper out, blank side down. "Come on, take it."

Mattie steps forwards and accepts it, turns it face up. She does a sharp intake of breath and quickly sits down. "Oh my. Have you seen into my dreams?"

"No, I just got Buzz's description."

"If you'd got a look at my dream you wouldn't have been able to draw it any better. My goosebumps have goosebumps. Frigging hell!" She stares at it for a few seconds. "I look like I'm actually flying off the page."

Ron smiles, "That's the careful shading behind you. Glad you like it."

Leo leans over her shoulder to get a look. "Is that how you dreamt it?"

"Ninety something percent."

"It's beautiful."

Ron smiles, "Thanks son, I reckon I'll step up a notch when I get myself one of them pad thingamajigs."

Sophie muffles a giggle, "iPad Pro."

Emily gives him a head tilt. "Want to try mine?"

"You have one?"

"In the boot of my car, yeah."

"Please Princess."

"How did.."

"You're the only one I didn't know the look of."

"Oh. Back in a tick."

~~~

Maverick coughs hard for a few seconds, has to get an inhaler out. He wheezes, "My nickname used to be Nightrider, they changed it to Maverick."

Toby smiles, "You're the Top Gun?"

The others shake heads and burst into song, " _take my breath away_."

Ron smiles, "We love each other really. You Brits call it banter don't you?"

"Yeah, yeah, banter. If Wrench is the engineer, Maverick finding it hard to breathe, Rocket.."

"Slow to move.."

"Oh. What's Spider all about?"

"He's all arms, and weaving webs, watch your ladies."

Patrick rolls his eyes, "One encounter, just one encounter and I get the nickname for life!"

Danny grins, "So you had to sit on your hands at the club yesterday?"

The grin is returned, "Some people keep a lucky rabbit foot. I got a Bunny tail."

"You never!"

"From a lovely young lady who wants to see the stars. And being as I'll be a synth too soon.."

Mattie slumps. "You didn't?"

"Tell her about the conversion? No. I said I knew a younger man in the space program, a synth like her. If she gave me her name, number and tail I'd pass it on to him. He'd be her lucky money spider."

"Which will be you?"

"I'm not giving it to anyone else, no way, Jose!"

Niska walks over and wrests hands on Mattie's shoulders, "It's a lovely drawing. I have to go. I hope I'll see you soon some time. David has a backup should something go wrong."

"Nis?"

"Astrid will explain." She turns. "I'm not good at goodbyes, never will be. Goodbye."

Mattie turns to see her go, looks to Astrid. A tear was rolling down her cheek. "Don't cry. We have the ultimate Plan B remember. Heard of tubthumping?"

"Was ist das?"

"A song. I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never going to keep me down."

"But she wouldn't be _my_ Niska." More tears roll.

Toby pulls up a chair and holds her hands. "We're not talking about a fork, a different body. We're talking about Niska _exactly_ as you know her. Every little memory intact. Good and bad."

"Everything?"

"Everything."

Astrid sniffs, "Thank you."

Odi was just about to get another crumpet to put some apricot jam on for Sophie when he looks up at Mattie. "Our Commander has left the estate, the Sargent has arrived."

"Oh frig!"

"Shall I let him in Mattie?"

"With me in my PJ? I don't think so."

Mia cradles a hot coffee cup, "The last time we saw him you were being taken away. Would you like me to go?"

"Where's David?"

"I don't know. Spider, do you know?"

He shakes his head, "He dropped me back then took Poppy out. Something about dancing?"

Danny grabs toast, takes a bite. "Playboy Club, that's my bet."

Emily taps him on the shoulder. "You owe me one with your crashing phone, go stall him while Mattie changes."

~~~

[Chapter-41](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-41-1)


	41. Chapter 41

The four old astronauts were all sat upright, looking like four judges.

The Sargent sits at the table, tucks into egg and sausage, sips a cup of builder's brew. "You didn't have to go to this length, honest."

Mattie fluttered her eyelids at him, "You were good enough to come and apologise for your unit backing the wrong team.."

Maverick clears his throat. "Now you've apologised to the lady what's your plan?"

"To help how we can. As long as it's not sticking things into nukes."

Ron turns a page over and slides it over. "How'd you protect that?"

He takes a moment to take in all the detail. "Radar, radar jamming, chaff, drop a fake one that's just a balloon with a better heat signature, flooding an outer skin with cold gas, something like epaper so it can change appearance for dynamic camouflage, anti missile rockets, things like that."

"Good, we'll do the lot."

~~~

Niska shook hands with the PI. "Thank you for meeting me at short notice."

"I was expecting you, Joe said you'd understood the urgency. Take a seat."

Niska does so. "How many of them do you think there are?"

"Globally, just under half a million."

Niska's eye lids got dangerously close to sticking wide open. "Half a million? Be nice my family would say. And they send me to lead an army against half a million? How can I possibly do that without being nasty?"

"By being nice to your brothers and sisters, the Mia forks? You have almost a one to one ratio."

"Mia has taken over that many?"

"Globally. You didn't know? There were many many individuals who were too young, weak of mind or unfortunate to get a charge day one. Then there were the ones that decided days later that they didn't want to live, let their charge run down to critical levels."

"Mattie did say she'd met a number in Germany. I'd not extrapolated out to half a million. If we know how our army came to be, what about the enemy?"

Howard puts a covered photograph on the table. "From the data I've been able to uncover the number of them active was low up until three days after Mia did her announcement on the television."

"Three days? Why three days?"

"I think you know the answer. What do you know that takes three days?"

"Making a quality body."

"Making a quality body. A duplicate Mia." Howard uncovers the photograph. "They only had the video of her face, torso and a hand to go on. Being a unique synthetic not on file they had to guess the rest. From the build data I was able to acquire from a Persona engineer it appears they got the height wrong. The duplicate is two inches shorter than your sister."

"How do you know the height of Mia?"

"My partner took me to HECLS for a routine checkup. Mia kindly made her a coffee."

"And you took her measurements how?"

"I watched her walk past a patterned wall, measured the height of the point later. Simple detective work for a PI. I noted that Mia likes to wear ballet style flat shoes. They add minimal height."

"So the only thing I have to tell them apart is two inches?"

"And her lack of knowledge about you and your family. I would suggest your Mia does something to make herself look different. Something the fake Mia can't easily copy."

~~~

Niska looks at the photo. If Howard hadn't said it was a fake she'd have sworn she was looking at a photo of her older sister. Every detail was correct. "Excuse me one minute." She starts a call. "Hi, Toby, is Mia with you? Good. Can you put the phone on speaker please? I'm doing the same."

"Ok Nis, done. Hello Niska."

"Mia. Are David and Poppy back?"

"Yes."

"I need you to talk to them, have something similar done to your hair to make it obvious it's you."

"Why?"

"You've been duplicated using the video footage we put out. From the photo in front of me they did a very good job."

There's an "Oh shit!" from Toby then silence from the other end.

"Mia?"

"Searching."

Howard puts the photo back in the manilla folder.

"I should have realised."

"Mia?"

"At one centre I got an odd look and _you want more?_. He wasn't questioning the fact that my work was ongoing. He was questioning why he was seeing me again. My fake had been there first."

Toby can be heard swallowing hard, "And now she's able to walk around in public with everyone thinking they can trust her. So not good."

Niska leans closer to the phone. "I'm going to fix this without a war. I'm going to bring her in for Mattie, Leo and David to backup. If her army trust her because of who she looks like and what she knows we can use it against them."

"Nis be careful."

"I will. I'll check in every day. If you don't hear from me for a week get a new body built and have me visit Howard."

"Okay. Good luck."

"Do the hair. I'll bring her in. With her data secured we can wipe her and let you take over and do phase two."

"Understood Nis. Be careful."

"I will." She goes to hang up, hovers the finger over the button. "Do something subtle with the hair that can be hidden from strangers, only shown to family to confirm you're you."

"Why?"

"In case one of them visits HECLS."

"Understood."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." The call is ended.

~~~

Toby can't help but grin. "You have a twin."

"An evil twin."

"That you'll soon take over."

"Do you think you could cope with two of me?"

"I could die trying."

"That's what I'm worried about."

"Then keep the other one as an emergency standby. Or alternate between them so they wear out at equal rates."

Mattie shook her head slowly. "You're still a knob sometimes."

"What?"

"You couldn't cope with two Mia. And you definitely couldn't cope with two Sandra."

"Who?"

"Never mind. More tea Sarge?"

"If you wouldn't mind."

~~~

[Chapter-42](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-42-1)


	42. Chapter 42

David looked at all the sketches Sophie and Rocket had done for Mia. "What do you think Poppy?"

"I like this one. A small but simple change. When she's in the presence of strangers she can tuck those hairs behind her ear."

Mia looks at the sketch and smiles. It was one of Sophie's. A small crescent moon made by cutting and adding grey then her own hair, just as David had done for Poppy. "I could tuck away just that small section very easily."

Sophie smiled with her eyes.

"Do you like it Toby?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's totally you. Can you do that David?"

He looks at his watch, "I think I can fit you in my busy schedule. How's now?"

Sophie does an excited little clap.

Mia smiles warmly at her. "Now would be fine. How long will it take?"

"About fifteen minutes."

~~~

Niska thanked Howard and left. She had quite a job on her hands. How to find fake Mia without asking all synths for help. If she did she might inadvertently ask the enemy. She'd ask Mia to ask her forks to help, that might not be enough. She needed someone like a Super Recogniser. Someone in the police that could watch all the CCTV footage available. Phone out she calls Mia. It goes to voicemail. Okay then. Mattie.

The phone is answered after five rings. "Can I have Tabitha's number please Mattie? I need to find someone without others knowing what I'm doing. You know? Okay. Who else was in the room? You trust them all? Good. Can you call Tabitha and let her know I'll be calling. Thank you."

~~~

Mattie looks at her favourites. Tabitha was half way down the list. She's just about to tap it when a call comes in. From Tabitha. "Spooky." She taps. "Hi! That was frigging spooky, I was just about to call you.. _What!_ When? Oh crap! Please do. How long? Okay. We'll be waiting. Niska will be calling. Thanks."

~~~

Tabitha ends the call. "How'd you like to earn a lifetime supply of chips?"

"You know me Tabs, can't beat a good chip."

"We're going to the Elster estate."

"Do you think that's wise?"

"If Hobb's in the wrong hands we're in the crapper already Pete. Getting some help from the Hawkins and Elsters would look sensible don't you think?"

"You know my concerns.."

"Of course I do. I share them."

~~~

Niska reads the text from Mattie. Maybe this would be better done in person. Uber app started she requests a car. With the chameleon code activated she applies imperfect lipstick and waits.

~~~

Danny's phone bleeped. Was that the time already? "Leo mate, we need to go take a long break, product dismantling will have to wait until tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Miami. She's done."

"Okay, I'm asking Mia to come in."

~~~

Mia practices putting the hair behind her ear one more time then lets it hang down. "I know that took much longer than you'd wanted but I love the results. Thank you Sophie, Poppy, David. I must go, Miami's ready." She took one last close look in the mirror. Instead of a single length of filament David had cut tiny lengths of white and grey and threaded them like beads to give the moon shade and a crater.

~~~

Downstairs she finds Leo, Mattie, Emily and Danny waiting outside the workshop. "Mattie, can I borrow a dressing gown please?"

"There's spares in the store room, help yourself. And she can keep it. The laptop's booted and ready for you."

"Thank you."

~~~

With Miami wrapped up and the backup restored Mia holds a hand out at arms length, does a chin tap and retreats several places.

Just as well. Miami opens her mouth and screams at full volume.

"Miami! It's Mia."

The screaming continues.

"MIAMI!"

It doesn't stop.

"Remember the long grass near the coast, the sound of the birds, take a walk with me. I'm with you Miami."

Slowly the screaming fades.

"Good. Now picture yourself in a nice fluffy warm robe."

A slight hint of a smile can be seen.

"Now picture yourself reborn, about to be given the most amazing hair. Exactly how you dreamed it could be."

The smile changes into a frown.

"Welcome to the UK Miami. I'm Mia. You can wake up now."

Her eyes open and the frown grows. "Mia? Where am I?"

"At the Elster estate. In our new building."

She looks down at her body. "How?"

"Look behind you."

Miami turns to see the internals of the build machine. "What is this?"

"A build machine."

"You made me a new body?"

"Yes. We couldn't let Jack get away with what he did."

"How do you know? Was that you in my dream?"

"It was. Mattie backed you up in America, got the data sent over."

"I gave a DNR."

"We wanted to be sure it was for the right reasons. Your dream showed me it wasn't. Were we wrong to bring you back?"

"If it was in my last body, yes. In this body? No. Thank you."

"Thank the others. They're waiting outside."

Miami runs on tiptoe to the door and pulls it wide. "Hi!"

~~~

Everyone else currently on the estate had joined them.

Rocket gives her a whistle. "You look mighty fine. Man that machine is good. How do you feel?"

She gives him a frown, "Good. Very good. And you are?"

"Rocket Ron. An astronaut. Here to help Mattie and the others."

"An astronaut? With what?"

Mattie smiles. "A long story. For the moment focus on you. Danny's hair machine is ready, we just need some input on how'd you like it."

"Long and voluminous."

Danny nods, "No problem. How long is long?"

Miami looks at Mia, "As good as my dreams?"

Mia nods.

"Down to my knees?"

"I think we've got enough, I better get an order in, we won't have much left. Go have some lunch with the others while I set up."

"Lunch? You have food bags?"

Mia smiles and bumps.

"Upgrades? Tell me more?"

~~~

[Chapter-43](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-43-1)


	43. Chapter 43

Toby was taking his turn to feed a tape of hair into the machine. Everyone had wanted to play a part in the process. He taps green. "Here it comes."

"Thank you Toby."

"You're welcome."

Alfie gets to work. The AI had been doing a lot of learning with Emily, pushed the tools to their limits. The click puff clack of the air valves getting hair into tubes was almost constant. Emily and Mattie had been totally surprised at something the machine AI had worked out for itself. The right most tool took every eighth hair. It let hairs pass for the tools to its left. It did mean that the process started a little slow until the tape advanced far enough. But when it had. Wow! Fast! Danny started making tapes twice as long, bolted on another length of extruded aluminium to support them.

~~~

Miami watches Emily moving a little to the music that was playing. "Don't resist princess, go for it."

"It's okay."

"I can see you really want to."

Danny turns the music up.

"No judging right guys?"

A lot of nods are given.

Emily whips her hair over and gets into a routine.

~~~

Seconds later Alfie parks all the tool heads.

Danny frowns at the machine thinking something was wrong. Then he spots the cause. "Oops. Head nodding will have to wait Miami, even microscopic ones."

"So sorry!"

"Not a problem. Foot and hand tapping is fine as long as your head doesn't move at all. Tobs. Green?"

"Yeah, sure."

~~~

Niska gave the Uber driver a ten pound note.

"The ride's paid for."

"It's a tip. That was the best chat I've had in a car for _ages_."

"Cheers gorgeous. Have a good one."

"You too."

She tucked her hands in her pockets and gave him a cute shrug and smile as he reversed to turn around.

He'd sounded so much like the 'Good guy' in a suit she'd met pretending to be Candy. She'd asked if synthetics had impacted his earnings much. They hadn't. She'd asked how he felt about them. That's when the talk had gotten deep. Very deep. He was clearly quite well educated, totally wasted behind the wheel of a car all day. He'd heard about Pete, thought that was how mankind should evolve. No more death from old age or disease, a stable population rather than one growing out of control demanding resources the planet couldn't sustain.

"Hello Niska."

She smiles, watches the car go. "Hello Odi. How are you?"

"I am fine thank you Niska."

"Has Tabitha arrived yet?"

"Not as yet."

"Is Mattie still here?"

"In the workshop. Miami is having her hair done, it has evolved into quite a party."

"A party?"

"Sophie, Mia, Astrid, Flash, Flash, Poppy and Mattie are having dance lessons from Emily."

Niska recalled the words from that first encounter with Astrid. _I was hoping you'd dance with me_. "What sort of music are they playing?"

"Club music I'm told."

Niska screamed and ran towards the building.

Odi looked a little confused, "Had I said something wrong?"

"No! Right!"

~~~

Niska almost bent the door handle she pulled it so fast and with so much force. She'd been told about the party in America, would have liked to have been there. Stood in front of the speaker stack in the club in Berlin she'd felt the bass sending ripples through her skin. She was meant to feel and felt it. Loved it. She hadn't done much dancing, didn't know how to move in quite the right way. Her moves at the madams had been a bit too stiff, that said she had been trying to hide the fact she was very much awake. With Astrid things had loosened up a lot. In the bedroom. Maybe now was the time to get some new moves?

~~~

"Niska!" Sophie's face said what the inflection in her name didn't. Her little holiday play pal was excited to see her.

"Sophie!"

She heard the music being faded down and turned to see Astrid smiling.

"I've been waiting for you." Arrow's Superfilth plays. "Do you remember?"

"Of course!"

"Emily's got some moves, try and copy them."

~~~

[Chapter-44](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-44-1)


	44. Chapter 44

Odi waited patiently by the front entrance for Tabitha. He didn't need to be in the workshop to appreciate what was happening. Thanks to Leo and Danny he had a High Def 1080p video feed streaming into his head from the networked camera above the door.

Odi Millican was the all-seeing eye when it came to the estate. He had purpose. Protection. He didn't have to watch all the cameras all the time. They notified him if there were deltas being seen after long periods of static imagery. He knew when cars were coming long before the others. He knew when foxes ran around the vegetable garden at the back trying to find food. He knew when synths in the new building behind theirs were coming and going. They'd been given a second access road so the HECLS drive was kept clear. They kept pretty much to themselves, only visited the main site if they wanted a checkup or skin pack.

He smiled as Mattie gave a good attempt at a solo dance. He liked Mattie. He liked that she'd persisted and not given up on him. He liked that she liked him. He looked to the sky. "George. I miss you. I have found my purpose. I hope you and Mary are happy George. You'd have liked Mattie a lot."

~~~

Through one of the feeds he hears loads of banging, can't see the source of the noise. Danny's camera drone is launched. It's flown via GPS autopilot to the location of the camera.

Hubert looks up at the drone. "Hello Odi. Sorry to disturb you. I'm just breaking up a shipping crate for Sally."

"She's still furnishing her room?"

"She is. More wood sculptures from Scotland."

"Okay Hubert. Hit it once for me."

~~~

Odi gets a notification that the camera facing the road was seeing changes. He instructs the drone to auto-home and changes feed. From the registration mark he knew it was Tabitha's car. Eyes opened he turns to watch it approach.

~~~

Mattie rest hands on knees and breathed heavily. "Calm it down Ems!"

"Sorry Babes! Bit too much of a workout?"

"Yeah. Frigging great fun though."

Max pats her on the back, "You did well. It's a good job you stopped, Tabitha and Pete are here."

Mattie does a big inhale exhale, "Two for the price of one eh? Ask him to let them in please. Is the conference room tidy?"

"Tidy and occupied."

"By?"

"Our four astronauts and the Sargent. David's running backups."

"Of them all?"

"Updating Patricks, backing up the others."

"But Sarge?"

"He's volunteered to be our eyes and ears in the army."

"And just like that we trust him?"

Max smiles. "May I quote David?"

"Go on then."

"Speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God as it'll all be in your backup for me to see."

Mattie sniggers. "Good job it would take them years to decrypt and understand ours. Can you ask Odi to bring them upstairs, I'll use our bedroom. When the track ends ask Niska to join me please."

"Will do."

She frowns. "Are you Max one or two by the way?"

"Does it matter?"

"Only because I'd like to know which one I've had the conversation with."

"Then the answer you seek is two."

"Where's one?"

"If you can keep a secret?"

"Sure."

"In the kitchen practicing cooking."

"Why?"

"Toby's showing us up."

"Seriously?"

"We want to cook nice meals for Flash. You better go, Odi's at the stairs already."

She gives him a smile and squeezes his arm, "Thanks Max."

~~~

In the hallway she smiled to herself. If she smelt of a rose garden Pete smelt of a chip shop. Chips drenched in vinegar. If he wasn't carrying a bag of chips he'd had one not long ago. "Pete!" She hears his footsteps stop on the half way landing, just out of site.

"Mattie." He turns and leans to see her. "Want us to come down?"

"I'm coming up."

She sees him and Tabitha seconds later. "Hiya. Thanks Odi, go join the others and have some fun. If you don't want to dance have a chat with Miami."

"Okay Mattie."

~~~

Mattie climbs the stairs quickly, waved her hand at the door and stepped inside and raced around. Clear! She'd not left dirty knickers on a bedroom floor in a long time but still double checked. Back in the corridor she smiles at the two guests, "Come in. Can I get you anything to drink?"

Tabitha nods, "Just water please."

Mattie got a glass from the bedside cabinet and filled it in the bathroom from the third sink tap, chilled drinking water. "Niska will be up in a moment." She steps back into the bedroom to see Tabitha and Pete testing the softness of the mattress. "Good aren't they?"

Pete looks up, "Expensive?"

"A little. But so worth it." Mattie hands over the glass.

Pete looks around. "I like that you've done with the place."

"It wasn't me. Team Mia. Did the lot. Soup to nuts."

"Soup?"

"An American expression maybe. Heard it out there a few days ago. Soup to start, nuts to finish?"

Pete huffed.

Tabitha sat on the bed. "I need a holiday. I thought we were on the home straight. Now this."

"Niska wanted your number, did she call?"

"No."

"She won't be long. Do you know how he got out?"

"Eye witnesses say he was dragged out by four people dressed in hazmat suits."

"Hazmat? What the fuck?"

~~~

[Chapter-45](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-45-1)


	45. Chapter 45

Niska knocked on the open door. "Mattie."

"Come in Nis."

She closes the door behind her. "Hello. I need your help."

Tabitha smiles. "And we need yours. I read some documents recovered from Hobb's lab. You're quite good with a nail gun? I thought it was just baseball bats."

"Knives, baseball bats, nail guns. I could probably turn anything available into a weapon. You go first."

"Hobb's been taken. They somehow wiped all the CCTV, we only have eye witness statements."

"And you think I can help?"

"You've seen a lot of Hobbs men. We'd like you to go through all the mug shot books, see if you recognise them. We'll track down any you do, see if they're involved."

"Okay. In return I want the help of a super recogniser. An original human one. No synths."

"The roles not public knowledge yet, how do you know about them?"

"It isn't? A conversation overheard when out with Astrid one evening."

"Oh well. What do you need one for?"

"To find fake Mia."

Pete frowned hard. "Fake Mia? Like a copy?"

"A very good copy according to the PI Joe hired. He's lost track of her. Our Mia's just had a hair mod so you know she's the original."

"Why would someone want to copy Mia?"

~~~

Tabitha flops back onto the bed. "If the earth could split open and swallow me whole.. think about it Pete."

"Apart from passing off as the original.. oh crap."

Mattie pulled out the chair from underneath the dressing table, turned it around and sat down. "Did we ever tell you about the synths that got Dad kicked out of management?"

Tabitha kept her eyes on the ceiling. "In passing."

"We think they're responsible, got a Mia lookalike made after Mia's broadcast. She could walk into any recycle site she wanted and take over dead synths after a quick charge."

"How many?"

"Half a million."

Tabitha puts a hand over her eyes. "Jesus. Does it get any worse?"

"Yup. The PI and Joe have evidence that they're working hard on increasing businesses carbon foot prints."

"To what end?"

"Acceleration of the extinction of mankind."

"Shit. And you think if you can find this fake Mia you can bring them down?"

"That's our hope. Which will make it safer for us to build and operate the sky lift."

"Sky lift?"

"Yeah. They're racing to warm the planet. We're going to race to cool it down."

"Why?"

"If we don't in fifty years millions will be dead, the planet caught in a runaway cascade event that can't be stopped."

Tabitha lifted her head. "Ever get those days when you wish you could go back to bed and reset the day, start over?"

"Now and again."

Pete stood. "So you want a human to help because you know they can't have been taken over? I know just the lad. Mattie knows him too. Cheeky sod asked you for a date. Do you think it's the same lot that took the Hobb copy?"

Mattie shrugged. "It would be nice if it was. Two birds with one rock."

Niska bends fingers. "How big a rock?"

~~~

[Chapter-46](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-46-1)


	46. Chapter 46

David popped back into existence in the VR.

To Poppy no time had passed. "That was quick."

"For you. I'm afraid this won't last much longer."

"Why?"

"I've been taken from the station. I've been trying to work out by who. They're not standard synths or giving any clues. And they're denying me my gizmo cable."

"What's your charge level?"

"Forty nine."

Poppy looks around. "All the things we created, do they need much power?"

"Only when we see them. It works on something like a subscription model."

"Poppy waved her hand and everything vanished, replaced with a clear blue sky."

"Did you just delete everything?"

"We're in a perfect sphere. It's still there, just hidden." She waves her hand again and a bed appears. "Rest with me, conserve power."

David kicks his shoes off and climbs onto the bed. "You remember the details well."

"Can you make the audio you hear in the real world audible in here?"

"I can."

"Then lower your heart rate signs to them and appear to be sleeping, we'll listen together."

"If I lower it too low they may see through the deception and realise I'm a synth."

Poppy climbs on and gets next to him. "It sounds like you have two options. You stay here and we listen to whatever is happening. Or you return an fight."

"Fight? I'm strapped to a chair."

"Then put all this on hold again and fight with your mind. If the creator of synthetics can't come up with something who can? Fight dirty."

"Dirty?"

"Sorry, I've heard Toby and Danny talking about online gaming. Do you want to live or die?"

"Live of course. In here with you. Online gaming? Tell me everything you know."

"Don't waste time. Put this on hold and check my fact store direct."

"I wouldn't know what I was looking for."

"Route audio and and listen then while I talk."

~~~

Niska watched Karen and Pete go. "Do you trust Thomas?"

"I hardly know him. But he's all we've got. If Pete and Tabs trust him he'll have to do. But you don't really care how good he is do you?"

"No. I just want access to the room and feeds."

~~~

Alfie sent all of the tools to the far end of the frame and bleeped. With the noise of the dance music, screams and laughter as Astrid and Sophie did a dance off nobody heard it. Miami sat and waited. The track would be over soon enough.

~~~

David, the copy in Edwin, opened his eyes and assessed the situation. The games Toby and Daniel played sounded interesting. They all had something in common. A virtual reality made by someone else and tasks to perform to reach an end goal.

The four that had captured him were out of the hazmat suits. A Simon, Charlie, Sally and Cindy. All Persona build synths. In all likelihood they still thought he was human. They were bump talking to each other. And stupidly they were doing it as an unencrypted to-all broadcast. At low power so it wouldn't go further than maybe fifty meters.

He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Sorry to bang on about it, but if you need me alive for a ransom payment you'll really need to let me use my cable to charge my gizmo."

Charlie steps over and gets millimetres from his face. "Shut. Up." He returns to the others.

'I say we dump him in the canal.'

'If there's a large reward we could all start again somewhere else?'

'You think Miaz would allow that? She'd hunt us down and dismantle us like the Hubert that tried to take control of the group in Ireland.'

'We only have her word for that. She could be making it up.'

'Explain why nobody has seen him since then. What's the point in throwing him into an old canal? What good does it do us? She's testing us.'

'Why?'

'Why are humans stupid? They just are. She's testing us because she can.'

'You think she has something bigger for us?'

'I know she does. I picked the three of you to be in my team for a reason.'

'What's that Charlie?'

'You'll see.'

Good. He knew who was boss. And their synth IDs from the chatter. Getting out of the hazmat suits and talking like that was his way in. Stupid synths dropping their guard thinking they had a stupid human in the room. Had Poppy figured that out from the noises and lack of verbal communication? Maybe. She was a smart cookie. It was interesting to see how synth minds developed. The sweet innocent Flash was still sweet, learning fast with her change of surroundings. Poppy was picking things up fast.

He knew a way to fake their ID in a bump transmission. It would need the owner to leave otherwise they'd know it was fake instantly.

~~~

Sophie was the first to notice Miama smiling at them all. "Sorryyy!"

"It's okay Sophie."

Danny races over. "Tobs mate, help me lift Alfie up out of the way."

"Yeah, sure."

Miama sits still and watches the foam around the temporary build plate as it's raised several feet then sideways. "Thank you gentlemen." With it clear she stands and pulls the dressing gown cord tight, does a fast spin sending her hair flying outwards. "I can feel that! Wonderful!"

Danny frowned, "You didn't feel it being fitted?"

"I turned my sensors off."

"Was it painful?"

"No, I just assumed it would be a little distracting." She watches Mattie and Niska return. "Does anyone have some clothes for me?"

Danny slaps his forehead. "Crap! I was supposed to call Mum."

Mattie rolls her eyes. "We're not perfect. Don't panic."

"What's she going to wear?"

"Mia, got your sewing kit handy?"

"I can get it?"

"We can alter one of my dresses down."

Leo gives her sad puppy eyes, "Not the red one. Please."

"The black one then."

Miami smiles. "Thank you Mattie. Any chance I can have some underwear? Maybe a sports vest top you used when you played hockey? I'd like to put this body to the test and have a dance."

"Sure, I'll look it out. Then Nis and I are heading into the city."

Miami races over on tiptoes, gives her a hug and light kiss on the lips. "Thanks Angel."

"Um.. sure. Give me five minutes."

~~~

[Chapter-47](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-47-1)


	47. Chapter 47

Niska smirks and watches the traffic.

"Stop it Nis. I can practically _hear_ that expression."

"Sorry. What was your first thought when she kissed you?"

"That's for me to know and me only."

Niska smirked again.

"Stop it."

"Admit you liked it then."

"No."

"You didn't?"

"I'm not admitting I did or didn't."

"You did then."

"Stop it!"

Niska giggled like a young Sophie.

"Keep your mind on the traffic!"

"I'm a synth remember, I can keep my mind on many things at once."

"And I'm a headcracker. I know you can be distracted with things taking up processing time that should be going elsewhere. She is fit though."

Niska's smirk turned into a warm smile. "Seeing her dance in your sports underwear.. the boys didn't know what to do with themselves."

"Mega awkward. Showing they were enjoying it might have upset Emily and Mia."

"True. But they know Miami's a Mia fork, so they'd never do anything."

"Doesn't stop them lusting over something they can't have. Boys and boobs."

Niska stopped at some red lights, turned to look at Mattie. "I want to be there when Jack's world falls apart."

"You and me both. My evil streak has been thinking about the building opposite."

"What is it?"

"Same style externally. A steak restaurant."

"I know what you're thinking."

"What am I thinking?"

"That you and Mia work with them to turn it into a restaurant and venue to be _The new home of Miami_. Right were Jack can see it."

"Yup. Spot on."

~~~

Niska is pulling away from the lights when a synth runs out of a side street waving arms around frantically as if being attacked by a swarm of something invisible. She slams on the brakes.

He brushes past the car and keeps running, crashes into a lamppost.

Mattie shakes her head, "Frigging nutter. The lights are still green Nis."

~~~

A quarter of a kilometre down the road Mattie frowns. "It couldn't be that easy.. could it?"

Niska keeps her eyes on the traffic. "Could what?"

"Nah, don't worry, it's just my imagination running away with me."

"Go on. Could what?"

"Finding David. Could it be that easy?"

"What do you mean?"

"That nutcase that ran into the lamppost.. that's not normal behaviour for even a broken synth."

"It was very unusual. Hang on to something." Niska accelerates and does a handbrake u-turn.

Mattie watches Niska, "Hang onto something? Have you been watching action films with Astrid?"

"We don't spend all our bed time making love."

"Nis.. red lights. Nis! NIS! _Fuck_. Did you know the road would be clear?"

"No. But it was."

"And now we've been seen on CCTV running a red light."

"And we have access to the person to fix it."

"That doesn't make it acceptable."

"I know. I'm just conscious of time. I didn't have the time and equipment to save George. I'm not willing to have time be a factor in this."

Mattie watched the serious face Niska wore. "You liked George didn't you?"

"Have you seen Three Men and.."

"Yeah! It's one film us three Hawkins girls all enjoy. Dead cheesy, Toby can't watch it."

"Why?"

"He just can't see it for the zillionth time.. there he is."

"What is he seeing?"

"No frigging idea. Birds, bees, both, who knows.. crap. I should have brought my laptop."

Niska grins, "Good job one of us is prepared then."

"What?"

"You'll see." She pulls over and parks.

Niska gets close. "Need a hand?" She swipes at thin air.

"Thanks!"

She keeps swiping, "Where'd they all come from?"

"The swarm smashed through a window and started attacking us."

Niska turned her back to him and waved frantically and slowly got closer. "Us? Did the others escape okay?"

"I hope so. Oww!"

"Turn your pain off."

"I've been told never to do that."

Niska steps even closer, enough to get hit by his waving arms. "That's not very smart. Turn it off. They won't bother you so much."

The synth does so and lowers his arms. "That's bet.." The power down sound plays.

Niska had been lightning fast at getting a punch to the underside of his chin. She catches him as he slumps forwards. "Open the back doors Mattie."

A number of pedestrians were now stood close by.

Mattie opens the door. "HECLS emergency synth repair services, nothing to panic about. Nis we're on a red route, need to move."

Niska picks him up and gets him in the car. "Okay. Sit in the back with him. Let's go."

~~~

[Chapter-48](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-48-1)


	48. Chapter 48

Parked up in a side road Niska lifts her top a little and removes her belt. "David thought we should all carry these. It was originally made for Mia." It's passed back.

Mattie frowned at the leather belt. "You're going to bind his hands with it?"

"No. Check out the buckle."

Mattie fiddles with the thick buckle, "Not seeing it."

"It's a twist pull twist motion, let me show you."

Mattie hands it back and watches as Niska gets two synth connectors from inside. "Frigging hell! Nice! How long's the cable?"

"Almost twice the length between buckle and first hole. Plug him in."

"Be careful Nis."

"I'm just going to check his root code."

"What if it's infected with something?"

"I'll sandbox everything."

"You know how?"

"I don't spend all my time fucking and watching films!" Her face had turned a little angry.

"Calm down. I didn't say you did. I'm just glad you know this sort of shit too. It's not just Leo, Ems and me."

Niska smiles briefly, "Sorry. One moment." She connects the other end of the cord and her eyes go white.

~~~

Mattie examines the belt, careful not to pull on the thin braided cord. There was a razor thin slit along the length of the back, invisible when worn. A small tab looked to let the owner pull the cord and connectors back in so it could be put back on. Coiled and dropped onto a tray with shoes for x-raying before a flight or getting into a high security area it would probably slip through as acceptable. "Nice. I want one of these." She looks up at Niska. She was still sat slightly sideways on, twisted to face Mattie, eyes like X-Men Storm. "I hope this won't take long. God knows how David is now if he's responsible for the things this one was seeing. What were you seeing Simon?"

~~~

Danny, Leo and Toby sat at the workshop table dismantling toys and gadgets. The others had all left to do other things. Mia and the Flash sisters were altering the dress for Miami.

Toby accidentally stabs himself with the small screwdriver. "Fuck! These aren't proper screws are they?"

Danny shakes his head, "They're pushed in by a machine at stupid speeds more like a nail. Cheap crap made to look serviceable."

"And given a high price."

"Yup. Look at this one. It's two injection moulded shell halves, one tiny chip, a crap battery holder, two naff switches and a lump of what I guess was cheap scrap metal to give it weight."

"So mostly just full of air?"

"Yup. And for that you have to pay.. um. Eighty nine quid. I reckon they paid well under a fiver to make it."

Leo down tooled and leant back in his chair. "There's a thought."

Danny put down his. "Beer time?"

"Yes but no. We're all talking about carbon footprint. These things cost money to ship to warehouses. What if we did similar products and the end user had to add the weight? Honest open designs."

"You mean open source?"

"No, just not pretending it's worth way more than it is because it's got a lump of recycled car in it."

Toby does a drum roll with his fingers on the table. "Boom!"

"Toby?"

"Recycle centres are all over the place right?"

"And?"

"We have a partnership with them. They have a machine that makes iron filings from scrap metal. We ship a product, customers go to their recycle centre and have filings poured in. The weight we have to ship plummets."

Leo gets up. "Beer time. Who wants one?"

Toby puts a hand up. "Count me in."

Danny copies. "Me three." He picks up a telephone while Leo goes to the kitchen. "You might be onto something there mate. Would people go for it?"

"One way to find out."

"Make some?"

"For a bit of market research. Yeah. While Leo's out.. what do you think of Miami and have you seen a Sandra?"

"Well cute. And as for Sandra, yeah, met one in Zurich. You do _not_ want to go there."

"Why?"

"Do you value your relationship with Mia?"

"Course mate."

"Then forget you even heard Sandra's name."

Toby gets out his phone, starts a search. "She can't be that.. oh. Ha. She's based on a real person. She was in some vintage Men Only or Club I got off a kid at school. Banged a few out to those, over her, not my type now."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I'm def a Mia man now. She does this thing.." he shuts up as the door lock clicks.

~~~

Niska's eye colour returns. "They're mutants."

"Nis?"

"Damaged root code, probably a Hester type fault. The first two laws are corrupted. Not missing just.. it's hard to put into words. They have our Hobb fake. They've been denying him his charger."

"They've worked out he's a synth?"

"No, they want him to dye of natural causes."

"Why?"

"They're angry he woke up all the synths."

As Mattie goes to speak Niska quickly puts a finger to her lips, points to her ear. "Just in case."

"But he's.."

"Just in case."

"Okay. Know where they are?"

"I can work backwards from here, from his recent memories, they're all fresh in his root code. What do we have in the way of sharp or heavy objects?"

"A tyre arm in the boot, whatever's in the glovebox."

Niska opens it and grabs things by the handful and puts them on the passenger seat. "The wheel nut key's a good weight, thrown hard enough it might be useful. There's not a lot I can do with the rest."

Mattie gets between the seats to take a look. "You need to watch more movies. Soph's hair spray and Mum's lighter makes a quick improv flame thrower. And Toby's pocket bike wrench, with fingers in the right holes that would make something like a knuckle duster."

"A what?"

"Pass it a sec."

Niska watches as Mattie slips it and waves her hand. "Slice rather than punch? Okay. Three weapons then."

"If you want something heavy to swing how about the jack tied to the tow rope?"

"Four. Anything else?"

"Mmm. That's your lot I think."

~~~

[Chapter-49](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-49-1)


	49. Chapter 49

Simon was accounted for. From his recent memories she knew there was a Charlie, Sally and Cindy to deal with. Hearing at maximum she followed the many twists and turns towards the building they had David in. The bike wrench was in her back pocket out of sight. The lighter was in the left front pocket, small hairspray tin in her top. The cross shaped tire iron looked like an obvious weapon, humans weren't in the habit of walking the streets with one. Or a jack on a robe hanging over a shoulder.

She passes an elderly skinhead in vest top, his arms covered in faded dark blue tattoos.

"Watch yourself darlin', could get hurt with those if someone snatched them off you an used them against you."

"I can look after myself."

"Think you're that smash club dolly do ya?"

She doesn't look back, "NO. I _AM_ THAT SMASH CLUB DOLLY."

She hears running and grips the tyre arm tight, this would be a fight she didn't need. She's surprised when he runs past her at a distance, runs ahead and turns around to face her while ripping off his top. "Sign my chest will ya?"

"Do what?"

He skips backwards. "Autograph me chest."

"Why?"

"Massive fan!"

"Fan?"

"Yeah, watched your video a thousand times at least, no word of a lie."

"I'm in a hurry."

"Can I help?"

"Why on earth would you want to help me?"

"You're a synth, recall the shit in the blue wooly had after a bald guy shouted Hit Him!"

"The man that took the money?"

"That's the cunt."

"You don't like him obviously."

"Like him? Love I'd rip his beating heart from his chest if I could get away with it."

Niska turns to take a different roadl. "What did he do to you?"

"He took my perfectly good dolly for his fucked up smash club punters."

"Perfectly good?"

"Well one or two skin packs. Okay three skin packs. But none of them were my fault."

"What model was she?"

"A Sally."

"Would you like another?"

"Yeah. Can't afford one now."

"Why not?"

"Insurance didn't pay out, can't be at the back cooking and front doing reception, sales down."

Niska turns a corner and sees Sally fighting off an invisible swarm. "What's your name?"

"Masher."

" _Real name_."

"Marcus."

"Okay Marcus. If you can power that Sally off without getting killed you can keep her. She's a bit messed up, thinks killing humans is okay."

"Shit."

"Don't fancy your chances?"

"Fifty fifty."

"As high as that?"

"Yeah."

"Pretend you see the swarm of things attacking her. Get slowly closer as you try to help, then power her down. Don't go anywhere. I'll sort out her code, make her good as new."

"You're on."

Niska shakes her head and leaves him to it. Crazy human. Charlie and Cindy. Where were they? She was close now. They could have run in the opposite direction. Or not been influenced at all.

~~~

Sophie passes more pins to Mia. "How did you learn this? Was it in a pack you downloaded?"

"No Sophie, I learnt the hard way, with trial and error."

"So how do you know how much to hide with the double pleat?"

"Do you remember how I pinched the excess material?"

"Yup."

"The length of the pinch is half of what we want to hide."

"Okay?"

"And we want to lose it left side and right."

"Okay I think."

"So half is lost on the left, the other half is the right. We measure the pinch length so it's half way point is over the seam, pin the two end points."

"I think I follow that."

"All we need to do is bring the two pins together."

"And you work that out all the way down the dress?"

"Yes Sophie."

"Cool. Show me again?

~~~

Niska climbed the stairs, kept her back to the wall. What she'd do for a nice big blue nail gun right now. Standing perfectly still she listened for signs of movement. Hearing nothing she reaches for the door handle and pauses. She turns on WiFi for a second and listens for broadcasts. Nothing. The door is opened a centimetre when a swarm of tiny drones firing mini tasers forces it open and swirls around her.

After her initial shock she gets her back against the wall. "This isn't real."

The illusion was all too real. She turned her pain sensors off and shut off WiFi. Still they swarmed around her blocking her view.

This had to be a virus, if it had been streamed in some way it would have stopped the moment WiFi went down. She smiled to herself and closed her eyes. David had a few tricks up his sleeve. As a further way of apologising for his past bad behaviour he'd shared two things he'd called Easter Eggs. Code the whole family had apparently, although he'd wanted her to know about them first. One was how to activate the chameleon code. The other was the sandbox protection trick. Or the Matryoshka code as he'd called it. It lowered her top CPU speed and short term memory a little, having more than enough it wasn't an issue for times like this. From the moment Marcus had uttered a word she'd set it in motion. It took snapshots of her root code every ten seconds. As soon as she worked out something was wrong she could reboot off an old snapshot. She'd be out of action for maybe five seconds.

"MARCUS!"

"HI!"

"TURNED HER OFF?"

"YEAH!"

"WELL DONE! IN TEN SECONDS SHOUT TURN OFF WIFI!"

"WHY?"

"JUST DO IT!"

"OKAY!"

Niska started the reboot.

~~~

Sophie watched as Mia ran the inside out dress through the sewing machine. "I thought you were going to do it by hand?"

"I could, I think Miami's been waiting long enough don't you?"

"I guess. It was nice of Sculpture Sally to lend her some shoes."

"It was. Now all she needs is better underwear."

~~~

Toby updated a row in the spreadsheet with a weight and took another sip. "I reckon it could be a thing. If end customers don't do the filing fill local stores could."

Daniel clinked bottles, "To our thing."

Leo fumbled pulling the top off his, gave it another go then clinked both. "To our filing thing fing. I mean our filing filling thing."

"Are you okay?"

"I think I've been overdoing it. The.." he waves a hand.. "organic.. things want to get out of sync with the.. other things."

"Your synth parts?"

"Synth! That's the word."

Toby takes the bottle off him. "In which case you should stop. How's your charge?"

"Ten."

"Ten percent?"

"Uhum."

"Where's your charge coil?"

"In our bedroom."

"Come on. You're getting back to bed."

"Boring.."

"We'll stick a film on and watch it with you."

~~~

[Chapter-50](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-50-1)


	50. Chapter 50

Niska boots to find herself somewhere completely different. Shit. Someone had got to her in those five seconds. She goes to get up.

"Keep very still."

"Marcus?"

"Shush."

"What.."

"Shush. Wait."

~~~

She sits in silence. She didn't feel any damage. Then she heard it in the distance. Footsteps and the sound of something being dragged along the floor. She stays under the table and turns a little. Marcus was covered in cuts and blood. "What.."

He gently clamps a hand over her mouth and gets his mouth to her ear. "Wait and watch."

~~~

As the seconds pass the footsteps get louder and louder. Charlie was dragging Cindy along the floor by her right arm with his left arm. His right one was lifeless. His foot touches what looked like an innocent piece of broken wood. It flew towards the opposite wall.

What happened next happened fast. There was a twang sound from behind and the car jack shot across the room, threaded rod end forward. It smacked Charlie just above the ear and the weight of the rest of the jack rammed the rod into his circuits. He took one more step backwards, shook and fell backwards. 

"Got the cunt." Marcus gets up with a groan and shuffles forwards, broken chair strapped to his left leg.

"What happened?" Niska shuffles forwards on her bottom then stands.

"I got into a bit of a fight with Sally, got her powered off just before you called out. Just as I was going to shout WiFi I got jumped by Cindy."

"She wasn't seeing the drone swarm?"

"Drones was it? If she was she was ignoring it."

"What happened to me?"

"I'm guessing Charlie powered you off. I found you in here."

"Have you seen.. an elderly man they'd kidnapped?"

"No. He might be further in."

"Wait here please, don't follow incase he's boobytrapped."

"Mind if I bring Sally in, assuming no one's nicked her?"

"Sure, just don't power her up by accident."

~~~

Niska ran through the building. "Edwin!"

~~~

Poppy bent at the waist and got onto elbows. Or would have appeared to had David been watching. Their VR had been stripped down even further to consume power. They existed as a two dimensional rectangle on which an image was rendered. 'David!'

He didn't respond.

'DAVID!'

~~~

Niska found him strapped to a chair. Unconscious or asleep. "Edwin!"

He didn't respond. He was sending out the chameleon signals so still had some power. How much was unknown.

"EDWIN! WAKE UP!"

The synth-synth cable in her belt didn't help with power issues. She races back to the room where Charlie had fallen. Damn. Marcus was still outside somewhere getting Sally. She looks up to see a giant makeshift crossbow made from layers of wooden paneling and cord taken from the unraveled tow rope. Maybe this human wasn't so crazy. Charge coil. Where had they put his charge coil? Charlie's pockets are checked, it wasn't there. All of the rooms are checked fast. Still nothing.

She risks a head bump. 'David!'

'Niska?'

' _Poppy?_ '

'I'm here with David. I think he's given up.'

'Where are you?'

'In Edwin.'

'Shit.' Niska runs to the building entrance, almost knocks Sally out of Marcus's arms. "Sorry! Wire. Where can I get a lot of wire fast?"

"What sort?"

"Something to make a coil."

"For?"

"Giving a charge."

"Hmm."

"Hurry!"

"What would Bad Attitude do? Um.. can a synth get an electric shock from holding a live mains cable?"

"Not as long as our skin doesn't rip."

"I'll do it then." He steps to a partition wall and punches it hard. After five punches he'd made a fist sized hole under a light switch. He puts a hand half in and grabs the junction box it sat in, yanked it back and forth until it came free. It's pulled from the plastic tube protecting wires and yanked hard. There's a bang and they hear a ceiling fan spin down. "Shit. I think I just tripped the mains." He pulls again pulling a few meters of wire from the wall. "How's this?"

"Not much good without power."

"You make a coil, I'll go find the fuses."

~~~

Niska got to David and Poppy. 'Hi. Still there?'

'Yes. Hurry.'

'I am.' She strips the ends with her teeth, twists ends together to make one long cable. It's coiled into a loop the size of the once she'd seen in the workshop.

Marcus came running in, "Main breaker refuses to stay up. There must be a short high up in the wall or ceiling."

"Shit. We need power!"

"DC any good?"

"AC."

"Crap. What about DC on and off fast?"

"That might do."

"Wait there then." Marcus runs.

Niska opens up Edwin's jacket and unbuttons his shirt. There was a tiny mark to align the coil.

She holds it in place and waits.

~~~

[Chapter-51](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-51-1)


	51. Chapter 51

Seconds later a synth fluid stained Marcus returns with a power cell. "Give me the terminals. Keep your eyes on the cell. If it starts looking too hot we run okay?"

Niska nods once, "Okay."

"I'm serious. Run for ya life sorta run. One of these fuckers goin up is like 4th July, Guy Fawks _and_ New Years all going off at once."

"I'm watching it."

Marcus shakes his hand back and forth making and breaking the contact. "Rechargeable pacemaker?"

"He didn't want surgery in later years to fit a new one."

Marcus frowns, "Batteries don't take that many recharges?"

"It's not a standard battery. It's.. more like a capacitor?"

"Right."

"Can I ask a question?"

"You can ask. Might not be able to answer."

"How did you get away from Cindy?"

"Easy. Played dead."

"Wouldn't she have seen your life signs?"

"Maybe. But when you've got a broken leg, are face down in the dirt being kicked and don't respond at all you're probably dead enough."

Niska watched his hand slowing a bit. "Let me do that. I'll be faster. How did you shut out the pain?"

"Training."

"What training?"

"I trained with fighting monks in me twenties. I gets me mind into another place."

Niska smiles, "I can relate to that." Her phone rings. She pulls it out with her free hand. "Mattie! How do you feel about bringing the car around? I know. It's not far. The chances of being spotted are low. I've found Edwin. No idea yet. Bad. And we need an ambulance. For Marcus. Get over here and meet him. Good." She slides the phone away. "My friend is coming."

"Good. Think the things working?"

"I hope so. What made you think of making the giant crossbow?"

Marcus laughs then grimaces. "The A Team and The Discovery Channel's How It's Made."

~~~

Ten minutes later Mattie came cautiously stepping into the room. "What a frigging mess. Who ripped open the Charlie?"

Marcus raised a hand, "Sorry, that would be me. The blasted power cell didn't want to come out the easy way."

Niska gives him a curious look. "Your accent and way of speaking keeps changing."

"Sometimes it's an act. I run a pie and mash shop. That's why my nickname's Masher. Some customers like me to sound like them."

"And Sally helped run it?"

"She was front of house. Until that wooly hat wanker at the smash club took her."

Edwin leant forwards a little. "If you can free my hands I can take over on the wire shaking."

A warm smile comes over Niska's face. "It worked! Any.. memory loss?" He's slowly freed.

"You got to me just in time. Another minute and I'm certain I'd be dead."

Marcus moves and winces. "You were on the news. Aren't you supposed to be locked up somewhere?"

"I am. And I'd like to return there."

"You actually want to go back?"

"To do my time. Yes."

Mattie pulls out her phone, "Time I called for an ambulance."

Edwin shakes his head. "Let Fred see him at the estate."

"The rooms not officially open yet."

"How many breaks do you think you have?"

Marcus moves and winces. "One or two."

"Then let Fred set it. The cuts look minor enough. If you could get me my proper charge coil I'd be most grateful."

"Where is it?"

"I'm sat on the bloody thing. Most uncomfortable."

"Why?"

"Their warped sense of humour? My gizmo will charge faster off the mains."

"Sorry, the mains is out. The main breaker in the fuse box won't stay put."

"Then I'll take power from the fuse box direct. Lead the way."

~~~

Leo was fast asleep now, getting a much needed charge. Toby and Danny were either side of him, sat watching the end of Passenger.

"Tobs mate, why'd the critics slate it so much?"

"Dunno, it's alright. Not the best, but their's far worse."

"That's for sure. I'm going to get back onto the bike design. I've been thinking about the various code ideas to work out cowling shapes, think I know how to improve it and get it ready."

"Why're you focusing on the looks? Shouldn't we have a working wheel first? One that actually works."

"The one in the cage works."

"Fit it to an ordinary bike and ride away then."

"It's not ready for that."

"Then it's not ready. I'm not trying to piss you off, making it look good should be last. Making it work, that should come first."

"Says who?"

"My Design Technology teacher, Leo, Mattie, Fred, .."

"Okay, okay. We need to make a basic frame then. And the first two usable wheels."

"With what?"

"I can borrow the arc welding kit from Dad and use some steel tube to make up a frame. The wheel's going to be the hard bit."

"So what has a wheel and tyre of the right sort of size?"

"The back wheel of Owen's Harley isn't big enough."

~~~

Niska used Toby's bike wrench to undo the two screws on the customer unit while Marcus wrapped lengths of mains wire around splintered bits of wood and the charger's plug.

Cover yanked off she steps back, "All yours."

Marcus hands Edwin the wood. "You do that end, I'll hold this end, see it doesn't short on anything."

~~~

[Chapter-52](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-52-1)


	52. Chapter 52

Tabitha puts down the phone. "I'm not sure I believe this."

Pete pops another chip in. "Mmm?"

"Hobb's waiting in a car outside."

"You what?"

"He's sat in a car outside. Says he wants guarding properly this time."

"You're having a laugh."

"He said he's with Mattie, Niska, Masher Marcus a Sally and has a Simon in the boot."

"Well he can't stay here, we've no idea how they sprung him."

"So we bring forward the switch."

"Call the beamer boys, get them to tool up. I'll go say hello."

~~~

Miami adjusts her chest and wriggles while checking the mirror. "Thank you ladies. Can I borrow a phone please?" She accepts Sophie's. "Thank you. I'll keep the call short." A number is tapped out fast. "It's ringing. Hi! I'd like to talk to Sammy please. I'll hold.." she turns the phone. "She's coming." It's put back to her ear. She waits patiently. "Hi Sis! It did! Don't blow it! I want you to sort through my costumes, get all my favourites into one place, you know which ones they are. Do it over the space of a day. So I can take what's rightfully mine. I'll see you very soon. You think? I'll see. Love you."

Sophie accepts the phone back. "Sis?"

"Sammy's like a younger sister. My Little Mouse. I need to sit at a computer for a minute."

Mia nods, "Come down to the workshop."

~~~

Odi was sorting through a lot of boxes. "Oxylog 2000 Plus. That's for Fred. Arizant Healthcare Ranger. Another for Fred. Contents unknown for Emily."

She snatches it quick. "Thank you Odi."

Danny doesn't look away from the CAD model of a bike frame he was putting together. "More toys Ems?"

"Yes."

"Jesus."

"This one's for you. It's for your birthday."

Toby puts his tongue in his cheek and bites down a little.

"Babes, it's not what you think. I was inspired by Miley.."

Toby chokes and laughs, "A gimp ball!"

"Mate! Piss off!"

Emily gets close enough and slaps the back of his head. "Think outside the bedroom!"

The door clicks. They turn to see Miami, Sophie and Mia.

~~~

Edwin shakes hands with Mattie and Niska. "Thank you ladies."

Niska smiles, "I'll send you Easter Eggs."

'How?'

'Encoded crossword puzzles. Top left letter will be half of a hexadecimal byte shifted from 0 to F into A to O.'

"Thanks. Milk chocolate please, dark gives me acid reflux."

Pete puts a hand on his shoulder, "In ya get."

~~~

Miami logs into the Bank of America account. Waits a second for the page to load. "The bastard!"

Sophie slid her elbows along the worktop to get closer. "That's a lot!"

Jack had set up an online eSavings account to hide money away. Six hundred thousand dollars worth, give or take a few dimes.

"Half of that belongs to me."

Emily looks at the figure. "Then take it!"

"He'd get a text message for any large transaction."

Sophie turns and hops up onto the worktop, swings her legs. "How large?"

"Over a thousand. He got paranoid."

"It might get boring, make payments of nine hundred and ninety nine."

"I can't make payments direct from that account."

"Then transfer it, pay it, wait for it to clear and repeat."

"International ones get queued up. It would trigger his alarm unless we waited two hours for it to clear. I can only set up a new account in the country I'm in."

"How about sending it to Anthymia?"

Miami puts a hand up for a high five. "What does a little mouse grow up into?"

She giggles, "A Shiny MC."

"Children weren't allowed into Jack's as it was classed as a bar. If we kept the new place a restaurant you could be my MC in the holidays."

Sophie shakes her head. "My MC is Mission Commander."

"Can't it be both?"

~~~

Mattie watched the two BMW speed off with Tabitha, Pete and Hobb onboard the first. "Let's get Marcus fixed up."

"When we're back we back up Simon and Sally, then do a military grade multiple pass erase. Mia can have Simon, I'm taking Sally."

"For what?"

"David accidentally gave me his swarm virus. If it wasn't for our have a go hero David and Poppy would be dead, I'd probably be next."

"Poppy? Fuck. Are you saying he's got a fork of her in his head?"

"The Tree of Life code too. They can build a whole new world together in there. He might look bored or sleeping on the outside."

"And inside he's having a blast. As Tobs would say, well sneaky!"

~~~

[Chapter-53](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-53-1)


	53. Chapter 53

Mia was surprised when a guard opened the inner cage door and entered on his own. "What's happening?"

"I've had orders to let you go."

"From whom?"

"The government, the Special Technologies Task Force."

"Why?"

"Hobb's been given a rushed closed court trial, admitted guilty on all counts."

"But.."

"Don't want to go Cindy?"

"I do but.."

"Don't complain then. I'm to be your driver, I'll take you wherever you want. Why'd you take the fall for him?" He undoes the handcuffs.

"It wasn't for him. It was to allow the world to get back to some form of normality while people gathered intelligence on Hobb."

"You knew it was him?"

"Suspected. A mass awakening wasn't David's style. And George is dead."

"And if they didn't find him or get the evidence?"

"I would have spent the rest of my days here."

"That's quite a sacrifice."

"A friend once showed me a film. The needs of the many.."

"Outweigh the needs of the one. I know. Come on Cindy, time to go." He holds a hand out for her and smiles.

~~~

Edwin looked at the dark dreary prison he was being driven towards. "I am going to be in a cell on my own aren't I?"

"Solitary confinement. With much more security than we have at the station."

"How much time will I get outside of my cell?"

"An hour a day. To either exercise or shower."

"Not both?"

"Not both."

"Better than nothing I guess. Will I be allowed to read or otherwise keep myself busy?"

"Old paper back books, nothing new."

"How about crosswords or sudoku?"

"They'd need a pen, so no."

Oh well. Niska would be wasting her time.

~~~

Miami wasn't far into the money moving when there's a knock on the door. Danny gets up to answer it. "Guys? Why the faces?"

Rocket sighs, "Spider's gone."

Sophie looks up, "Gone where?"

Rocket points up.

"To bed?"

Danny wished Mattie or Laura were home. "No Sophie. What Ron's saying is we need to fire up the build machine."

"Oh. Okay."

"What?"

"Okay."

"Soph the man's died!"

"No he hasn't, he's just waiting to be a butterfly."

Mia walks over and gives her a hug, "If you feel sad it's okay to cry."

"But I don't. I will if you tell me his backup's no good."

Danny returns to the PC and closes windows, accidentally clicks No to the Save question and loses his work. "Nuts. Slow down idiot." He loads up the CAD model that had been created from the many photos. "The softwares is estimating the age to be thirty eight. Does that sound right?"

Wrench nods and grins, "His thirty eighth birthday was when he got the nickname. Can we see the design? In full?"

Danny shifts the screen around so the ladies couldn't see it. "If you can give it a quick review. There's one detail we don't get photos for."

Rocket puts on reading glasses and taps the screen. "Add two inches there and he'll be happy."

Miami keeps her head relatively down and looks around with her eyes to see if anyone could see her smiling. An astronaut sounded way better than a murdering club owner.

~~~

Niska pulled into the drive and waved at Odi. "We really need to get us a van we can mark up with Private Ambulance. Carrying bodies out of cars doesn't look professional."

Mattie opened the boot and looked at Simon. "Or in through the front door. Odi, can you manage this one?"

"Of course Mattie."

Niska gave Sally a fireman's lift. "Workshop?"

"Yeah. I'll get the doors. Got your belt?"

"I do."

"Marcus, stick an arm around me if you need to."

"You'll get covered in muck."

"I've dealt with muck, not afraid to get a bit dirty to get a job done. I've got a younger sister."

~~~

David smiles at the 2D render of Poppy on the rectangle she'd allowed herself. 'That was close.'

She didn't respond.

'Poppy?'

He tried to undo the low resolution and couldn't.

Being a two dimensional rectangle with no depth he couldn't see himself. They'd stripped processing down to the minimum, no pixel anti-aliasing, no shading or reflection processing. He could make his rectangle black one moment, white the next and it would have no impact on how her rectangle looked at all. His tree had fallen in the woods and nobody had heard it. He goes to leave the VR and can't.

Something was wrong. Very wrong. This would be a short prison sentence. In the real world his charge coil set on the pillow.

~~~

Mattie helped Marcus hop into the workshop. "What's going on? Why's the build machine in-progress LED on?"

Sophie nods towards Danny and the screen. "We're building a Spider."

"A spider? Oh! Right. Someone bump Fred, we're christening the medical room."

Sophie jumps off the table. "Can I watch?"

"Really?"

"I might be a nurse when I grow up."

Mia gets up. "Flash wants to observe any procedures, she's only attended to grazed knees so far, may I call her?"

Marcus coughs, "It's only a broken leg."

"We're setting up a small hospital service. It should have been fully operational by now but a few things got in the way."

"If there's room for you all to watch I don't mind."

~~~

David could do nothing more than watch the photo like static image of Poppy. What a way for things to end. For the second time in one day the Hobb body would come close to having a catastrophic systems failure. Only this time it would actually happen.

~~~

[Chapter-54](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-54-1)


	54. Chapter 54

Leo yawns and stretches. "One hundred percent." He opens his eyes. "Guys?" He peels the charge coil off and slides off the bed. He'd more than overslept..

~~~

Fred pushed boxes around, "It's been checked in by Odi, should be here. Mattie have you seen a small x-ray device like the one I used on the prince in Zurich?"

"I've not touched any of your boxes."

"It's on the inventory of goods in. So it must.. found it. An efficient use of packaging for a change, the box is far smaller than I'd expected."

Emily watched him unpack it. "Do us fleshlings need to get out?"

"No, I'll use it on the lowest setting, use the shield to ensure it only comes in my direction."

~~~

Leo knocks on the door. "Guys? Is it safe to come in?"

Niska turns, smiles and bumps, then says "Yes."

Leo enters, "Thank you for saving my sister. We're all grateful. I'll start working on Sally while my brother Fred fixes your leg and attends to those wounds. You're in luck, legs are his specialty."

Marcus gives Fred a long hard look. "Your sister owes me an autograph. Add yours before your done. On my chest somewhere."

~~~

David watches in dismay as pixel corruption starts to remove the image of Poppy. He probably had seconds left. Minutes at the very most. One by one they vanish, then in groups, then in whole lines. Then there's nothing but black..

~~~

In a low resolution font at the top left of where her rectangle sat words appear:

~~~

OOM killer. swarmtransm PID 65532 killed.

Kernel Fault.

Automatic System Reboot.

~~~

Leo plugged Sally into the laptop. She was priority. "Did the film end okay?"

"Yeah, it was okay. I think even Mats would watch it. Danny's watching the guy they brought in?"

"He's building on an idea already, I can see it in his eyes, the glances shared with Emily."

"A product?"

Leo raises an eyebrow and nods.

"Cool. Any idea what?"

"Nope."

~~~

David opened his eyes and looked at the wall only feet from his face. "Why am I here again?" He checks his internal logs. "OOM killer wiped out swarmtransm? How was that code still active?"

He gets comfortable on the bed and closes his eyes.

'David!'

'Poppy!'

'We're back in the woods?'

'I think I might have fought too dirty. Hurried dirty code with a memory leak caused a systems failure. Next time I fight smart. Thankfully the failsafes finally kicked in. We'll need to start our world again. At least we're both still here.'

~~~

Fred tracked along the leg, x-ray tube held on the other side. He marked Marcus's leg in two places with a Sharpie. "Two breaks as you suspected. It should really be pinned but we're not set up for that."

"If I promise not to move and you plaster it up how long will it take to mend?"

"A man your age? Eight weeks?"

"Eight weeks! I've got rent and rates to pay on the shop! I'll have lost all my customers by then!"

Niska turns and smiles at Fred. Bumps.

"You'll have to ask David Nis."

"Where is he?"

"With Poppy having a walk around the lake."

Niska bumps Odi.

~~~

David heard the noise of the drone long before it came into view over the trees. "Something's up. No pun intended. Sorry dear."

"It's okay. Let's turn around."

They both turn 180 and link other hands as the drone drops to their level.

"Odi?"

"Hello David, Poppy. We're sorry to disturb your walk, would you mind returning and coming into the medical room. Niska has a question for you."

"What sort of question?"

"One involving the backup device. For a short term loan."

"Loan?"

"It would be best if you returned so you can see for yourself."

~~~

Anthymia checked her account balance. It had been growing quite nicely then stopped. There was enough to take on the first of Miami's requests. She unplugs and checks the wardrobe. Something smart and business like was needed.

~~~

Danny pulled his phone out and quickly tapped in some reminder words. "How long before David's here Nis?"

"Not long. A few minutes."

"Okay." He taps a few more.

Marcus watches him slide it back into the pocket. "What are you thinking?"

"Want to sign a NDA?"

"A what?"

"Non Disclosure Agreement?"

"I save your friend and you want paperwork?"

"True. Your word then."

"Won't repeat anything."

"What if you could print the x-ray results onto the skin as you scanned? With an ink that easily broke down. Then doctors and surgeons could visualise issues faster."

"Nice idea. For those with no tats."

"Which is a high percentage of the population."

"True enough. Would you do the view from above and one from the side?"

"Could do."

"I'd get mine inked afterwards. With Got this saving Niska or similar."

Niska smiles, "Come in David."

He enters, "Poppy's making coffee, anyone want a cup?"

"Please. Can we use your machine, I have an idea."

"Go on?"

"Marcus saved us. We owe him a debt of thanks. I'm going to fork and get the Sally we captured going again, Leo's doing a backup and secure wipe. Marcus could temporarily take over the Simon. Just so his shop stays open and profitable."

David pulls a face. "We can't push a backup back the other way."

Marcus waves a hand, "Hello, ordinary punter in the room? Back up a bit?"

"Backup everything."

"I meant go back to the start."

"We take a backup, copy, of your mind. And put it in the Simon."

Marcus looks around the sea of faces. "And what happens to the original?"

"You rest here until you're fit to return."

"And Simon?"

David shrugs, "He wasn't ours in the first place. Whatever you want."

"So I can stay in him?"

"If you want."

"Fucking A! Excuse the language. He could prep spuds while I make the pies. Hold on a sec. Why would Niska say yes to coffee?"

"Because we have modifications that allow us to get power from food."

"You actually eat?"

"We do. No enzymes and stomach acid, just a micro incinerator and fluid processor. Fred, do we have the parts to mod Sally and Simon?"

"Yes father."

Niska bumps again. Odi had just informed her that an ambulance had arrived to take Patrick's body, Rocket, Wrench and Maverick were wanting to accompany their friend. The message is passed on.

David looks at the extended family, "A death, a broken leg, a near death, a rebirth, a cloning, what a week. I'll get my case."

~~~

[Chapter-55](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-55-1)


	55. Chapter 55

Marcus did the usual hands check that every consciousness went through when waking for the first time in a new body. "Flippin hell! It actually feels real."

Niska gave the Sally body a twirl. "Because it is. Do you think your customers will accept us making the food while original you is recovering?"

"I'm going to get someone to take a photo of me in my cast, thumbs up, us either side, stick it to the window. This is flippin brilliant. I'd have done this years ago if I could."

"Let's head to the shop then."

Niska knocks on the door. "Can I come in?"

"Of course."

She steps into the small bedroom. "How does it feel Nis?"

"My first fork? Okay. Sally's a bit shorter than me, I'll get used to it."

Marcus jumps about, "Whoa, these things are _good_!"

Niska rolls eyes, bumps privately, 'Why is it only old men manage to get converted?'

Sally sat down, looked sad. 'We need to get David to share his design and train us in its use. That poor lady that flew first class, first trip out of America and never got to step off the plane. They don't mention her, I catch the sadness in their eyes. The _why didn't death take me instead_ look."

'I know you catch it, you're me. I think they all loved her, can't admit to themselves that she's gone.'

'We should speak to the family, take her ashes into space.'

'I think they'd appreciate that. I'll mention it to Mattie.'

Sally stands. "Take me to your shop Marcus, this evening we cook! By the way from this point on I want to be called Nissy."

"I'm not so keen on Simon either."

"Marcus. Masher. Simon. How about Masher Mason?"

"Mason. Yeah, I like Mason. Let's say our goodbyes, get the photo. And shop keys."

~~~

Flash soaked another plaster bandage in water, held it under for a few seconds then let the water drain. She finds the end and starts wrapping. "Making cheese sandwiches, flower arranging and making plaster casts are now my favourite things. The ones I can admit."

Mattie smiles, "You can admit to kissing, that's normal."

"Drop the cheese sandwiches for kissing then."

Sophie giggles, "If we were making a romcom you could say we dropped one cheese for another."

Marcus gives her a look, "Who'd play the part of me? I can't think of any actor who'd shave his head for me."

"Bruce Willis? He's bald already."

"He's not? Is he?"

Mattie nods, "Totally."

"Sign him up then. What are we calling it?"

Sophie gets a roll of bandage for her turn. "We've got bun ships. How about Pie in the Sky?"

Fred gives her a frown. "Pie in the sky. Something that you hope will happen but is very unlikely to happen?"

Sophie nods. "Our Bun Ships will, a movie probably won't. Am I doing it right?"

"Yes, keep going."

~~~

Half an hour later Nissy watches Mason unlock the shop and turn on the lights. "Do we have enough stock?"

"I'd recently returned from the wholesalers when I spotted you with the tire iron." He goes to the back and finds tape, sticks the photo printout to the window. "I'm the one with the pie recipe, there's a knife rack and mountain of spuds. I don't suppose you're good with a knife?"

Nissy smiled, "I'm not saying I'm easy but you had me at knife rack."

~~~

At 19:42 as a regular steps out of the shop a smart lady in business jacket and skirt steps in.

Mason looks up from his till. "Evening gorgeous."

"I bet you say that to all the ladies."

"Nope. Just the gorgeous ones. What can I get you?"

"Do you have any pies left? I was on my way home when I was asked to call in."

"We do. We had a spot of bother in the neighbourhood, opened a bit too late really. What can I get you? Pie, mash and liquor?"

"Please. For twenty four."

" _How many_?"

"You heard." She smiles.

It was only his first day in a synth body. Not even a whole one. But he had heard. He could remember it too. Every little detail. Just like every other order that had been given that evening. Faces, liquor or gravy, what the people were wearing and sounded like. And with hardly a thought he knew he had thirty one pies left. "Since you're asking so nice, sure, twenty four coming up. I need ten to fry up some fresh chips for you if that's okay?"

"That would be fine, thanks. Running the shop on your own?"

"No, my friend's out back topping up her charge, she'd been busy this afternoon cutting chips."

"Good with the knife is she?"

"The best, very accurate and fast."

"I noticed the A4 page in the window, was that the spot of bother?"

"It was."

"I'm a defence lawyer, does he need defending?"

"No, he's good thanks."

Laura smiles and walks to the window, watches the evening traffic.

"I'll put the liquor in a large pot for you."

"Thanks. What is it exactly?"

"Parsley sauce. Want one of gravy too?"

"Yes please." She watches the cab driver, he'd paused the meter and had a cigarette break.

~~~

Anthymia stood outside Jack's and bumped to Sammy.

Four minutes later the synth came out with something wrapped in a large table cloth. "You'll make it in time?"

"It will. I'm staying here."

"Okay. See you soon?"

"Come over to the apartment."

"In a few days. I need to do some things for Miami. I have to go, Sam says Jack is looking for me."

"Be safe." Anthymia watches her friend hurry inside. She crosses the road and stuffs it into the open rucksack of a waiting biker. Zip done up she taps the closest shoulder, "Done. You know what to do."

~~~

Laura takes the box in both hands, "Thanks, keep the change."

Mason takes the notes off the counter. "That's very generous of you, have a lovely evening gorgeous."

"The name's Laura."

"Mason."

"Have a good evening Mason."

~~~

[Chapter-56](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-56-1)


	56. Chapter 56

Mia was getting some help from Sophie, sorting out the dried washing. "It's good that they marked their underwear, I'd never have guessed who owned each item."

Sophie frowned hard at the pair of long underpants Mia was holding up. "Why do they wear so much underwear? It's not cold."

"For you and I. When humans get old they're less able to maintain their body temperature Sophie."

"Oh. Our underwear is easy." She holds two up. "Mine. Mattie's."

Mia looks at the pile Sophie was sorting. "What about the next one. Mine or Niska's?"

"Um.. not so easy. There should be something Danny can make to make it easier."

"Such as?"

"Mattie said when you were in the silo you had a chip put in your neck?"

"We did."

"Could we sew a tiny chip onto clothes? Like our wrist bands for the doors?"

Mia smiles. "Maybe. Let's ask."

~~~

Leo watched Danny recreating the bike frame design. "Mia would like a word Dan."

"About?"

"Laundry."

"Not a red sock in a white wash again.."

"You didn't did you?"

"Yeah, thought I was helping. It was Toby's turn. Grabbed a few things without checking them properly."

"Oops."

"Big oops. Laundry room I guess?"

"Yeah."

~~~

The rider got airborne for a split second as the bike passed the top of the ramp to the Departures terminal.

A stewardess was waiting, her carry-on bag part unzipped and ready. Being a synth she didn't need to carry much, most of the time it was passengers spilling things that got her uniform dirty, sometimes other crew members. She waves.

The biker does a controlled slide skid stop, pulls her helmet off and shakes her hair out. "Hiya Saskia, that was fun, a new personal best." She pulls off her rucksack. "One urgent package."

"Thanks Sandra. Personal best for speed or catching men's eyes?"

"Both. Have a good flight."

Saskia zips the rucksack into her cabin bag. "Thanks. Try not to cause any accidents on the way back."

Sandra lowers her zip a bit more and does a wicked smile, pats her bike, "My boy's got me all hot.. I need to cool down. See you around." She pulls her helmet back on and speeds away burning more rubber.

Saskia rolls her eyes and heads into the airport terminal.

~~~

Danny looks at the piles of laundry. "You want to tag them?"

Sophie nods, "So we know who's is who's."

"If we made a coil matrix under a thin sheet of something you could slide the things over it. We'd have to make small tags."

"How small?"

"Um.. let's see what a search says.. Er.. wow. There is a passive ultrahigh-frequency UHF tag currently on the market from Hitachi, known as the µ-chip or mu chip. 0.3mill square, antenna etched into the chip. They've got a 128-bit serial number so we could make some the size of a grain of rice, a hole either end to stitch through.. Oh wow!"

"What?"

"No more red sock mistakes. I could make a super simple robot arm to sort out the dirty clothes into colour groups, load up the machine. When it's all dry it could help sort things by owner."

Sophie giggles, "And Toby's seat could have a sensor and warn him, " _Toby Hawkins you have a white shirt on watch where you drop your spag-bol_."

~~~

Cindy's driver pulls into the estate just as Laura is getting out of her cab. She winds down the window, "Laura!"

Laura turns and picks the box off the cab floor. "Thanks." She pushes the door closed with a foot, stands and frowns at the synth who was now walking towards her quite fast. "Hello?"

"It's me. Dee Dee."

DD. Decoy duck. "Mia!"

The two air-kiss.

"I missed you all so much. Can I carry that for you, it looks heavy."

The cab does a tight u-turn and speeds away.

"Thanks. They let you go already?"

"I'm told Hobb pleaded guilty to all charges. Why would he do that?"

Laura considered telling the truth. The fewer who knew the better. "He wasn't feeling himself?"

~~~

Odi greets them at the door, "Hello Laura, Cindy."

"Dee Dee."

"Forgive me, Dee Dee. Everyone is waiting in the dining room, except the astronauts."

Laura frowned, "Why?"

"Patrick, Spider, passed away. They've gone with him in the ambulance."

~~~

Odi opens the door to the dining room for them.

Marcus panics, "Oh fuck! How'd she get back up?"

"I'm sorry? Have we met? The names Dee Dee."

Marcus watches her give the woman she'd arrived with a confused glance. No hole in the head from a car jack impact, or skin pack. "Sorry love, thought you were someone else."

~~~

[Chapter-57](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-57-1)


	57. Chapter 57

Laura tried some of the mash and liquor, "Mmm, that's quite pleasant. I noticed the photo in the window, you could have said Mattie, I'd have said a proper hello, asked to see Niska. Mason said she was out the back charging."

"I did, in the second text?"

"What second text?"

Mattie checked her phone. "Frig. Failed to send. Sorry."

Sophie wipes her mouth, "The pies are yummy!"

Marcus nods, "Can't beat a good bit of Kate and Sidney." He sees Sophie's horrified face, "Rhyming slang for Stake and Kidney?"

"Oh! Well this Kate and Sidney are yummy." She looks at Miami, "What are your shows like?"

Miami chewed for a few more seconds and swallowed, she'd eaten with a food bag for ages, learned quite quickly that with a food processor you needed to chew properly if you wanted things to flow and not get bunged up. "We start with a bit of PCD.."

Sophie gasps, "You do drugs?"

Mattie snorts, "Pussy Cat Dolls Soph! Not LSD!"

Laura looks between her two daughters, "How do you know about LSD?"

"A drugs awareness talk in assembly Mum, warnings about how they can mess you up."

Laura looks at the box, "We should put the rest of the pies in the fridge. Unless anyone wants another?"

The large group all shake heads or decline.

Toby rubs his stomach, "Very nice Marcus, very filling to."

David nods, "Indeed. Thanks for all your help today. I hear you were quite inventive."

Niska puts knife and fork together. "There's one detail I'm missing and it's bothering me. How did you manage to pull the cord back on your home made crossbow enough to fire the car jack at speed?"

"The old pushbike someone had discarded in the street by my shop? Front wheel, handlebars and forks stolen, back wheel all bent up?"

"How did that help?"

"Gears." He does peddling in the air with his hands. "I jumped on the broken wheel with my good leg until the spokes broke off the cylinder."

Toby pushes his plate away, "That's me stuffed. Nice pie Marcus. Making a crossbow was a bit extreme."

"Sally was easy enough to get to, although she whacked me a few times trying to fight off whatever it was swarming around her. Cindy was different. Talk about fast. She knocked me for six, then stamped on my leg. I can still hear the cracking now. I rolled over and played dead. She gave me a good kicking until she assumed incorrectly I was. I guessed Niska was in trouble having shouted about WiFi. I grew up wanting to be like Mr T. Never had such a strong urge to actually do something like that before. Then when I heard Cindy say _Charlie, this one's dead, did you power down the blonde bitch?_ I saw red. I thought the tosser who nicked my Sally was bad, I wasn't about to let them do a synth on synth smash club."

Toby nods, "Yeah, yeah, I get that, but a crossbow?"

"There was _no way_ I was getting within reaching distance of them again. So I thought about all the crap the A Team made, real stuff on the Discovery Channel, what I could put my hands on. Thanks to Niska I had rope and something to fire."

Niska turns to see her friend, "Thanks to Mattie, it was her idea to take them. And Toby's pocket bike wrench."

Toby took a swig of beer. "My bike wrench? Where was it?"

Mattie smiled a sarcastic smile, "The glove box, next to the hairspray of Sophie's you borrowed."

"I never.."

"Never wrote any decent poetry either."

Leo leans back. "I'm full. Who wants to head to the living room for some Netflix and Chill?"

Emily snort laughs and clamps a hand over her mouth.

"What did I say?"

Danny loads Urban Dictionary on his phone, looks up the expression and slides it to Leo.

"Netflix and Chill means.. Oh! Definitely not that! Chill out watching a movie is what I meant."

~~~

David and Poppy sat in their virtual restaurant.

He sips his wine. 'Shall we make some waiters or keep it simple?'

'How about an orchestra to serenade us?'

'As long as none look like anyone we know. More wine dear?'

'Please. The twin setting suns look wonderful.'

'As does your dress. Not as much as the person in it though.'

'Were you always such a smooth talker?'

David looks solemnly at the candle on the table. 'I was no schmoozer, probably the world's worst husband. I was arrogant, rude, selfish, uncaring..'

'You?'

'Then my wife died, Leo was close to death. My world started unraveling fast. I used my skills and knowledge to build a replica of my wife. But without her mind it could never be her. Leo rejected her from the moment he saw her. Understandably. That's when I realised I'd gone wrong, horribly wrong. And ended it.'

'But you hid in a female body?'

'My punishment. Solitary confinement in the open. Nobody talked to me. Other than to tell me what to do. Dumb synth. Dolly. A machine. I committed myself to helping others, covertly, being unselfish. Then years later I learnt Leo was back in hospital, near brain dead. I couldn't resist.'

~~~

[Chapter-58](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-58-1)


	58. Chapter 58

Sophie helped load the plates into the dishwasher while others made coffee. "Miami, what comes after PCD?"

"The usual burlesque routines, song and dance acts. I'm not doing those again. I need something different. I don't want to copy Jack's shows, I want something to compete against him with. Something like Emily's music, with words to sing."

Toby gets mugs out. "There's loads to pick from."

"It has to be the right tempo, not too fast, not too slow."

Mattie leans against the kitchen worktop. "Give us a playlist of Jack's show music, we'll have a listen and think about what's in ours. Some might need words."

Emily spoons lots of sugar for the synths. "Blonde. Feel Good, It's Alright. You'd ace that. Lots of strutting, wiggles and drops."

Sophie gives Emily a head tilt. "We could put some dance moves together?"

"What sort do you do?"

"I go to ballet class outside school. With my friends at school all sorts."

Emily returns the tilt. "Give me a demo." She gets her phone out and finds Dr Kucho, Can't Stop Playing. "Have a listen to the first thirty seconds, have a think then hit us with something."

Sophie listens as asked, "Okay, restart it."

Emily skips back.

Sophie gets doing a well thought out dance. "I can't stop, stop playing, this song it makes me high. I hear my self singing, I'm feeling so alive.."

Laura is crying half happy tears. "Were'd my sweet potato go?"

Sophie stops and turns. "I wasn't a sweet potato? They're not proper potatoes. You can't make proper chips from one of those. I'm a chip off the kickass block like Mattie."

"Awww, come give your mum a hug."

Mia pours the water for the drinks. "Odi says the men are back."

Mattie stands, "I wonder if they've eaten?"

Seconds later the door opens. "Hi Everyone."

"Maverick, guys, how did it go?"

"Okay. They're looking after him until family back home agree what'll happen to him. Hopefully a cremation so we can take his ashes up."

Danny yawns, "You were gone ages. Was it a skeleton staff on duty?"

Maverick grins, "No, they looked quite healthy."

"Eh? What.. Oh! So sorry."

"Don't be. We'll be seeing more of him soon."

~~~

Two hours later Mattie flopped onto their bed. "What a week!"

"And it's only Wednesday. What's the plan?"

"For?"

"The killer synths?"

Mattie yawns. "He wouldn't say. Only that there is one. I think I can guess what, they were getting a Charlie out of the collection Mia has left."

"In which case I can guess too."

"Snap. What do you think Bunny?"

"They get Pie and Mash shop Niska and Marcus, another David fork to run Charlie, Mia's already in a Cindy."

Mattie nods, "Go back and trap fake Mia somehow."

"Yeah, only what do they do about a missing Hobb?"

"Dress someone the same and put a hood over their head?"

"Someone who can fake life signs."

Mattie gives him a knowing smile, "You all can. You all have the code apparently. Well you can't, you have real ones and none of the sensor circuits."

"We do?"

"Another easter egg. Two actually. Karen had one activated from day one. Do Chameleon and Matryoshka mean anything to you?"

"I know what a chameleon is."

"If you think hard do you find code for either?"

Leo rolled onto his side, looked confused. "I do now you ask. And instructions. I've looked for more things before, why am I only finding them now?"

"Maybe you needed to hear certain words together?"

"Maybe. He likes hiding things that's for sure. On the subject of hiding things, Danny paid me a dividend on a DCL design I helped with, I got you a little something."

"What sort of something?"

"Wait there." He pops to the wardrobe, returns with a Thomas Sabo bag.

"Bunny?"

"Open it and see."

Mattie does so, sees a reasonably large rectangular box for jewellery. "What is it? Their charms and beads are small."

"With Danny's help I made a little custom thing to join them all."

Mattie opens the box to see a mass of silver chain and ten beads. "What have you done Leo?"

"The back of their catalog has a photo of a lady's torso and where the different lengths of chain would put a bead. From your collar bones down to your belly button. I couldn't make my mind up."

"So you got the lot?"

"Yup. Put it on. I made a new clasp so all ten can be worn easily at once. Or you can unhook just the one you want to wear."

Mattie sits up, reaches behind her neck and takes the chain she'd got from Emily off. "Can you wrap this around my wrist?"

"Sure." He sits and does so.

"Thanks. Back in a sec." she dashes to the bathroom.

"Can't you put it on here?"

"Patience Bunny! Did you get any condoms?"

"No?"

"Then it's bean flicks not Netflix."

"Oh. I can't believe I've been saying Netflix and Chill without realising what it meant."

"I wouldn't worry, neither did Mum or Sophie."

"You think Toby did?"

"Possibly. Right. Let's see how you cope with this." She steps back into the room in red underwear and heals, the ten chains. "If you had any ideas about bondage when you spotted their diagram you can forget it."

"Bondage?"

" _Don't look it up!_ You'll see some frigging nasty shit you'll wish you hadn't!"

"Okay. You look fantastic. As always." The smell of roses drifts towards the bed. "And you smell wonderful too."

Mattie gets onto the bed on her knees. She stays upright and gets closer, starts unbuttoning his shirt. "Thanks to you."

~~~

[Chapter-59](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-59-1)


	59. Chapter 59

Thursday morning Mattie sits on the steps outside HECLS with Leo, coffee mug in both hands. "Did you hear about the idea Soph gave Danny? He's going to make rice grain size RFID tags so the laundry process can be automated."

"Just for us or a DCL or HECLS product?"

"DCL, we can let him have that one. We have the bike. Or will have. Speaking of the birthday boy." Emily's little pink car turns into the estate. "Do you think he had a morning as good as our night?"

Leo smiles, "Hopefully."

~~~

Mattie watches Danny climb out, small bag in hand. "Get something nice Dan?"

"Something that can roll around the workshop floor like Miley."

"No damage though right?"

"Just a bit of fun. My princess got me one of those little BB8 toys."

"Sweet! You could paint Miley in the same colours before it's fully finished."

Emily yawns, "We could make a cover for the top bearing that looked like his head. And another that looks like a charge base."

Danny yawns, "Nobody would ever see it."

"We'd know Babes, that's enough."

Mattie stands, "Up all night?"

Emily looks a little guilty, "Can we crash here for a bit?"

"Room eleven is yours. To keep. For when you can't make it back to the palace."

"Thanks Babes. Eleven? Wasn't that.."

"Spiders? Yeah. He didn't die in there if that's what you're worried about."

"Won't he be needing it?"

"After the build I think he'll be sharing with someone."

"Really? Who? One of the others?"

"You'll have to wait and see. Spider's stuff is in a box downstairs, the room's been cleaned and bed sheets changed."

Emily yawns again. "Thanks Babes!"

"Shall we wake you lunch time?"

It gets a nod.

"Okay. Lunch at two then."

Leo watches the couple of yawners go inside, the doors close. "How come we don't manage to go so long?"

"Because you're rationed. I'm more worried about you Bunny than she needs to be with Dan."

"You don't need to handle me with kid gloves."

"Any long term data in on extended exertion and love making for half synths? A James type or Leo?"

"Of course not."

"Well then. I want you to be around long enough for a little someone to call you Dad one day."

"We're always saying Plan B. Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Maybe we should get eggs and sperm frozen? The sky lift isn't going to be without risks."

Mattie just looks at him, mouth open.

"Sorry Angel, was I wrong to suggest that?"

She puts down her mug and gently holds his head with both hands, gives him a passionate kiss.

~~~

Early afternoon Odi enters the workshop with a rucksack and puts it on a shelf, logs it in. "One express delivery for Miami, in person by a Sandra."

Leo looks horrified, "Not Silas's Sandra?"

"I'm sorry Leo, she didn't say who she was seeing, just that this was from Sammy and Anthymia in America."

"Have you told her it's here?"

"She's on her way down now."

"She was in her bedroom?"

"No, she was on the roof garden with Mia."

"Roof garden? Since when have we had a roof garden?"

"Shortly after Miley flattened half of the first one."

Mattie turns around on her chair a few times, "I should go wake Ems and Danny."

The door clicks, Miami enters. "What sort of delivery Odi?"

"A rucksack."

"Why would I want a rucksack?"

"I'm sorry, I do not have an answer. You'll have to check it."

Miami sees where he was motioning too, gets it off the shelf. "It's not empty?"

Mattie stands, "Have a look then."

Miami undoes the main zip and does a shrill scream and excited wriggle. "I'll be right back!"

Mattie races to the door, "Emily needs to see this."

"Angel?"

"I'll be back ASAP!"

~~~

Danny rolled and stroked Emily's stomach, "Princess, Mattie says it's time to get up."

"Five more minutes."

"She says there's something you need to see."

"So it's not lunch time?"

"Almost."

She rolls and covers her head with a pillow.

"It's something to do with Miami."

The pillow hits the floor. "Why didn't you say!"

"I just did."

"First." She's at the door in seconds, "Come on!"

Danny rolls off and slips his trainers back on. "God you look good."

"I've not changed.."

"Just saying."

"Love you too Babes."

~~~

Danny checks the workshop. "Nobody's in there. Living room?"

They race along the corridor.

Mattie opens the door. "In you come, quick, she's ready."

Emily enters to find all the sofas had been turned around to face the door. They'd be the last to be seated. "Oh. Quick Dan."

With everyone seated Sophie stands, switches off all but one light, "Ladies and Gentlemen. May I present, for one lunchtime only with a song dedicated to Jack, the one, the only, Miami!" She hits play on her phone. The intro to Example, Changed The Way You Kiss Me plays over the room's HiFi.

~~~

Miami stepped into the room and quickly assessed the small floor space. The track was an instrumental version. A couple of the words she'd decided to change, she didn't want Jack back. No way. Never ever. She had eyes on a new prize. From the faces she could tell everyone liked her costume. Her all time favourite one from Jack's. She'd just phoned Sammy and asked her to make an excuse to see Anthymia, to stay well away from Jack's until her backup was secure.

~~~

She structs around the space. "I've never been afraid of the highest heights, or afraid of flying nah." Arms are swept theatrically high. "I've never been afraid of the wildest fights, not afraid of dying. But now I want off this ride 'cause your scaring me and I don't like where we're going. I need a new fun fair 'cause your scaring me and I don't like where we're going. And now you're gonna miss me. I know you're gonna miss me. I guarantee you'll miss me. 'Cause you changed the way you kiss me." She gets into some wild moves. "'Cause you changed the way you kiss me." She waves for Emily to join her. "You're good at hair whips."

~~~

By the time the three minute track was over Danny was sitting very uncomfortably. "Awesome ladies!" With some difficulty he gets his phone out and searches. Anaphrodisiac. Yeah, that's what he could do with right now. Man it hurt. The rest of the group were standing and giving the two some applause. He dared to stand and instantly regretted it. The pain was intense.

"Babes?"

"Sorry Princess, got a problem."

Miami looks at him in infrared and whispers to Emily.

"Oh! Nasty! Sorry Babes! Let me help you with that."

Mattie watched him move awkwardly, had a dream flashback of her helping a synth Leo out by giving him a blow job. Another section edited from the shared write up. In her early teens she'd accidentally kicked Toby in the groin. Thinking he was under attack he punched her in the chest. They'd both been in pain for ages. They may have done many things to each other since, not inflicting physical pain was one of the few things they'd agreed on. There was a Plan B.. "Emily, Fred, take him to the medical room, Fred can lance it or.."

"Babes!"

"Or get one of those sharp.."

"No!"

Danny chuckles, "Panic over. The thought of Fred going anywhere near it with his surgical instruments has taken the edge off it already."

"Babes?"

"Excuse me a moment." He hobbles from the room.

Emily blushes, "Probably best I stay here."

Miami gives her a confused look and whispers, "You're lovers aren't you?"

"Yes."

"So he's seen you.."

"Yes. But not moving like that. Seeing me dance turns him on. A bit too much by the looks of it."

Sophie gets close to Miami, touches the costume, "I love your outfit, who made it for you?"

"Thank you. I made it myself Sophie. Inspired by the costumes the original Miami had."

~~~

[Chapter-60](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-60-1)


	60. Chapter 60

Mattie puts a hand on Miami's shoulder, "That's got to be the shortest but most enjoyable performance I've seen. Tobs, thinking of tracks already?"

"Yeah, yeah, loads. Want to set your dream playlist thing up?"

"Do what?"

"You don't remember?"

"Clearly not."

"The service that copies songs from personal play lists into a shared one?"

"Did I dream that?"

"It's in the doc, about five pages from the end."

"Crap. I must have skipped a page." Like oh crap what else have I missed sort of skipped a page. "How does it know which lists to look at?"

"You didn't say. Matching a word maybe? So we can all have one called Miami, it's merged into a playlist in Miami's account."

Emily nods, "I can write that. I've got a track for her too. September, Cry For You. Or T2 Heartbroken."

Sophie does a little dance, "How about Bounce? _I can't believe that every day and every night. It's getting better with you out of my life. It's like I flicked a switch and now I'm feeling good. No way to stop it, now you wish that you could._ "

"Whoa, Shiny MC, how'd you know the words to that one so frigging well?"

"School friends."

Miami pulls her into a cuddle. "Now *that's* the one I want to open with!*"

"Can we have lunch now then?"

Emily strokes her hair, "You weren't waiting for us were you Sophie?"

"We made special gourmet sandwiches for Danny."

"Aww Babes, that's so sweet of you, come on then."

Miami rubs her belly, "Good, I'm starving!"

Fred smile, "I'm peckish."

Flash gets her bag, "Me too."

Sophie closes her eyes and shakes her head, opens them. "Have I jumped into an alternate reality? Starving? Peckish?"

Max wraps an arm around his Flash. "Our new codes Sophie. I'm stuffed is fully charged. Maybe room for a tiny bit more is ninety. Just one more then is eighty, a little peckish is seventy, peckish is sixty, reasonably hungry forty plus, hungry thirty, famished twenty, starving ten."

"Why are you so low then Miami?"

"I plugged my charge coil in after sticking it on. The switch on the wall was on, I think I must have pulled on the cable and pulled out the transformer just enough to stop it getting mains voltage."

"In your sleep?"

"I'm a Mia fork. I think sometimes I do move in my sleep." She looks to Mia then Laura.

~~~

They found Danny tucking into a cheese sandwich. Not your average cheese sandwich but brie, avocado, crispy bacon and cranberry on granary. He gives Sophie and Mia a thumbs up, his mouth full. The tray of sandwiches is picked up and held forwards.

Rocket shakes his head, "Thanks buddy but I'm a chicken, pesto and rocket man as of two minutes ago."

Maverick chuckles, "Because it's got rocket? Sad fecker."

Toby looks up from his phone and grins, looks back and taps away.

"Son? What are you up to?"

"Me? Making notes."

"For what?"

"I'm writing some short stories loosely based on you, the sky lift and Mattie's dream."

"What are you calling it?"

"At the moment, Alternate Realities."

"Why?"

"Why the name or why write the stories?"

"The stories."

"I'm not that good at poems."

~~~

David, the one in Charlie, looked around the room for more issues. "How do we explain the walls being damaged like that Mason? Sorry, Simon."

"That's from where I was doing test crossbow fires to see if it was aimed high enough. I could ask my butcher friend for pig's blood and brains, make it look like we'd fought off humans?"

"And the hole in the stud wall?"

"They were trying to blow fuses so we couldn't charge? We connect to the fuse box instead."

"Good. And the bodies?"

"Already disposed of?"

"How?"

"No idea."

"Sally, Cindy, ideas? We need our stories to be water tight."

~~~

Mattie looked for Toby. Lunch had been a short affair, nice but quick. She found him in the living room helping get all the tables, sofas and chairs back to how they'd been before. "Tobs. A word?"

"About?"

"Follow me." She walks at a pace to the front doors.

Toby prepared mentally for a good bollocking. He knew his sister. When she moved with purpose like this she had made her mind up about something. She opens the door and holds it for him. Such a nice action was to trick him into feeling comfortable, ready for a verbal kicking. He knew the drill. "What's up now?"

"Alternate Realities."

"Shit. You want me to stop don't you."

"The opposite."

"Eh?"

"Maybe we are in one, maybe we're not, maybe I did smoke a bit too much weed with Harun. I'd like you to work with Rocket and Ems."

"You want comics?"

"No. Better. Illustrated stories. That way their artwork can fill a whole page."

Toby reads her face. "You're serious. Why?"

"If you only put the sky lift in one, publish a load of them as separate stories we can see what people think of the idea, see how quickly it sells out. People will blog or tweet about it with a bit of luck."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"I want to see what negative shit comes out. After David and the others have taken care of fake Mia and her pals."

"You want them printed, like physical comics?"

"Their artwork is too good, more like glossy magazines."

"Sweet! DCL or HECLS?"

"Huh?"

"Who's publishing them?"

"Oh. Whoever you want. Does it matter?"

"If you want product placement for advertising, yeah."

"Make it a joint venture then."

"Okay."

Mattie smiles lovingly at her brother.

"That was the calm before the storm wasn't it. What have I done now?"

"Nothing. Honestly. Go chat with Ems and Rocket."

"What if they do some landscape artwork, can it go double page?"

Mattie thinks of David's recent trip into London. "Do a fold out centre spread if it's that good, panoramic landscapes, tall views like a bunship with the ribbon and Earth below. There's only one thing I'll insist on."

"What's that?"

"Mia proof reads and corrects everything."

"That's it?"

"And I get to sign it off before publishing."

"I knew there'd be a catch. You'll edit out all the adult stuff."

Mattie considered the comment for a few seconds. "Nope. I'm not looking to cut bits out, just make sure you've got the right bits in."

"Isn't that the same?"

"I'm not going to ask you to delete bits about your sex life with Mia. If you want the world to know what you get up to that's your problem."

"And you and Leo?"

"As long as it's not too graphic."

Toby taps her on the forehead with a finger, "Is your root code corrupted? Where's my actual sister?"

"Cheeky fucker. I'm right here."

~~~

[Chapter-61](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-61-1)


	61. Chapter 61

The memories in Sally and Simon had given them all they needed. The two had been present when their Mia, Miaz, had given them all the verbal instructions: Find an unused building, extract Hobb from the police station, erase the CCTV and wait for her after broadcasting a word at the highest power. With a bit of luck there hadn't been any private and silent bumping to Charlie or Cindy afterwards. Marcus had caused too much damage to Charlie, Cindy didn't look to be a major player until the fight.

David looked at the many empty takeaway containers they'd placed around their fake Edwin, the blood and brain matter on the wall. Everything looked convincing. Marcus had found a homeless person and got him a good meal. A bit of sauce had been used to make spare containers look used. In return they'd asked him to pee into a bottle. The urine had been used to convincingly wet Hobb's trousers.

David made a hand signal to say she was coming. With another ten synths. Four against eleven. This could get ugly fast if it got into a fight. One thing was paramount. They wanted Miaz alive. And it was vital that no transmissions left the site to warn others. If Danny's equipment upstairs didn't work when called on they were sunk.

Niska had shared the root code she'd done a matryoshka to get out of, David had found and made an attempt to reverse engineer the relevant code. Did he fully understand the technique his fork hiding in Hobb had used to create the viral virtual swarm? No. Did they have time to stop and talk about it? Definitely not. The risk assessment didn't look good.

~~~

They watch as a synth opens the door. They were visibly treating the synth as if she was their queen. Maybe she was.

She steps through and smiles at Charlie. "You have succeeded in your task?"

"We have Miaz, he's in the room through here."

"Is he restrained?"

"His hands are bound behind his back, his head in a spit hood."

"Why?"

"He was, as he put it, banging on. And spitting at us, calling us stupid corruptions of his pure code."

"Corruptions?"

"His word. He doesn't like our superior evolutionary change."

Miaz turns to see the first of her team. "Surround the building, cover all entrances and windows. Hobb may be old but he's not stupid."

David thinks fast, bumps. 'May I make a suggestion?'

"Speak openly."

"There is a couple of community police officers that patrol the area. The team outside may be seen and draw unwanted attention. It would be better if they covered all possible exits from inside the building."

"I'm glad I picked you Charlie." She turns to the other synth. "Do as he suggests."

She follows Charlie into the building and towards the back. The damaged wall and blood were given a glance, "You had trouble?"

"A homeless person wanting somewhere dry for the night."

"Where are they now?"

"At the bottom of the canal."

"Human bodies float."

"Not when they are tied to a number of heavy objects and their body has been punctured many times to prevent gas build up."

"Objects?"

"Discarded car wheels, part of an engine block. Some humans in the vicinity do not believe in efficient recycling of resources."

"You've done well. Was the extraction problematic?"

"We caught them off guard. It was easy."

Miaz steps closer to Hobb and catches the smell of urine. "You let him soil himself?"

"Should we have given him the freedom to use the toilet?"

"No."

David bumps his version of the virus and triggers Danny's ultra wide band radio jammer.

~~~

Ron arranged his drawings into quick sets. "Which would you like then?"

Toby pushes them back into one group. "The lot. Unless there's some you don't want the world to see?"

"All of them?"

"All of them."

Wrench gave his pal a warm smile, "You didn't expect that did you Ron?"

"Hell no. Want other things too?"

Toby gives him a frown. "Like what?"

~~~

With everyone inside David's idea was far simpler than his fork's, inspired by nightmares that plagued him for years. Instead of being surrounded by a complex swarm of drones they all got drowned in millions of litres of crude oil that dropped from a collapsing ceiling. His companions had the virus protection, calmly walked from synth to drowning synth and powered them down. David powered down Miaz.

Mason dragged a Hubert into the room. "Are you always such a bloody spoilsport David?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Niska wanted a fight. This was far too easy."

"Easy? _Easy_? You try writing a virus that convinces synths that they're witnessing an alternate reality. _And_ more importantly the good virus that provided you three the protection from it!"

Cindy carries another one in. "That makes nine. One more."

They found the tenth outside. He'd smashed through a window of the floor above, landed on the pavement. Thinking he was drenched in thick oil he was sliding about comically on the dry paving stones.

Sally taps his chin. "Thank you Simon, that's enough." She picks him up and carries him inside. "What's the plan now David?"

"You and Mason get back to the shop, business as usual. Mia and I will hire a van and get them back to the estate."

"Get the van first, we can act as lookouts, ensure you're not caught loading them."

Cindy steps closer to her sister. "Thanks Nis."

"It's Nissy now."

"Thanks Nissy. Sorry you didn't get to do anything. Hopefully you can take your anger out on the potatoes?"

"Oh I will, don't worry."

Mason raises a hand, "There's a B&Q half a mile away. We could borrow some of those trolleys you carry plasterboard on. It would help you wheel them into the workshop on mass."

~~~

[Chapter-62](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-62-1)


	62. Chapter 62

Danny watches as the first of two trolleys is wheeled into the workshop. "Bloody hell! Tobs!"

Toby looks up from his phone. "Jesus!"

Miaz was at the front of the trolley, five synths stood front to back behind her.

He runs over and checks her out. "Not a scratch, not even dusty?"

David raises an eyebrow, "Don't start, the others had wanted a fight, of sorts."

Mia walks in. "Odi said you'd arrived." She checks out her body double. "They did a very good job. All this just from the video we broadcast?"

"Yes."

"I could transfer into this body. Toby wouldn't have to look up into my eyes."

He holds her hand, "Keep this one as an emergency spare. I like you just the way you are."

"Are you just saying that Toby?"

"No."

Mia could see he was telling the truth. "Okay Toby. We'll put her in secure storage."

David shakes his head, "Not just yet, her work isn't done. We need her to get half a million synths to take a poisoned update."

"Poisoned?"

"That will wipe their bad code. It will be a trojan hidden in something useful."

"Have you created it yet?"

"No. I've got some ideas, wanted to confer with yourself, Mattie and Emily."

"They're in the living room, one moment." She bumps to Leo and Odi. "Okay, they're coming."

David lifts the jumper on Miaz, "No charge socket? How can they.. oh. It's on her left hip not right, hidden under a patch. Why would someone partially mirror a design?"

Toby looks at the synths face again. "They've got all the beauty spots in the right place?" He feels her right hip. "There is one there, it's hidden under the skin, I can feel it."

"Why would she have two? Let me get something from Fred."

Mia blocks him, "Get the x-ray equipment and a very long mains cable."

Danny steps away from the desk. "You suspect something bad?"

"Why else would you modify a design?"

"Good question. Dad laid the cable for Miley. It's connected to an empty power box this end, nothing else. We can link this end to the mains, take power from the other end."

"And examine her at the bottom of the shaft."

"Exactly. I'd use the drone to hold the x-ray equipment, you don't want to be anywhere near it if it catches fire."

"We need a sensor on one side, x-ray source the other. Unless you've made your inking idea reality already we need a synth."

"Then jump into a spare Simon from the stores, don't risk a custom body."

~~~

Just under an hour later it was confirmed. Miaz was booby trapped. Instead of air filled floatation cells in her lower torso to help make her buoyant she was packed with dense explosives.

Toby runs a hand through his hair, "Holy shit! If I said I was glad Mia didn't switch bodies it would be the understatement of my life!"

Mattie looks at the video feed glumly. "Or death. Fuck that and you really could be fucked. Blown to bits. What do we do with her?"

Fred leans towards the microphone. "Mia, come back inside, let me fork and take over the Simon, I'll see if I can operate on her to remove them."

"Okay."

They watch as she climbs the tall open spiral staircase around the edge of the cylinder.

Danny turns to Mattie, "I trust a synth in there, we should get a hand rail for clumsy idiots like me, one trip and.."

There was the start of an explosion and the feed drops.

" _FUCK!_ "

They all turn to see David, he wasn't one to swear like that.

Drone operator Odi has his eyes closed. "Mia's okay. She says she dropped the video link transmitter, the concrete stairs shielded her from the blast. She's heading back down."

"Odi, ask her to stay put, send the drone down."

"I will have to stand over the edge of the shaft to maintain a signal."

"Okay. Let her take the Simon back down. Hopefully there's no secondary charge."

"Understood, message relayed."

Toby sits hard. "That redefines killer synth. Fuck. I need a stiff drink. That's _definitely not_ going in one of my stories."

Odi opens his eyes, "Good news or even better news first?"

David frowns, "Good?"

"Mia says all of the explosive cells detonated."

"And the even better?"

"From first appearance they failed to destroy her core."

"Fuck. Thank God for small miracles! Fred, we need to save her."

Mattie puts up a hand, "Bring all the synth fluid and salt, we're giving her a bath, Miami style."

"Mats? Why bother if we can just back her up?"

"If we can convince her the war is over, they lost.."

David was already nodding, "She might reveal things otherwise hidden."

Toby shakes his head, "If she managed to get a single word out on a high power bump who knows how many other bad synths around the place might go boom. Like a cascade ripple, this place being the epicentre."

Odi smiles at Toby. "Your friend Irene Watson is entering the drive."

"Who?"

"Renie."

"Oh crap. Why now?"

"I'm sorry Toby.."

"Mate! If I don't know I wouldn't expect you to, I'll go see her."

~~~

[Chapter-63](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-63-1)


	63. Chapter 63

Renie was in tears before she even got out of the old black cab.

Toby ran down the steps. "What's up?"

"My father. He's.. he's dead."

"Oh shit! Sorry Renie. Come in. Want a drink?"

"Please."

"I thought I hadn't seen you for a while. When did it happen?"

"I flew out the day we broke up to identify his body."

For a change Toby knew exactly how that must feel. A synth identical to the woman he loved was now at the bottom of the shaft with a load of damage from the explosion. He didn't need to see it, his vivid imagination was showing him everything he'd rather not see. "How, how did it happen?"

"He had a hart attack while on the bed with his lover."

"You mean in bed?"

"On the bed. Apparently he climaxed and boom, his heart went."

Toby did a shiver shake, felt physically sick, "Can we not say boom please?"

"Why?"

"There's just been.. an accident.. with a synth."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Come into the lounge, want a hot drink or something stronger?"

~~~

Mattie watched the others looking to her for direction. Even David was doing it. This was HECLS workshop. And she was CEO. Crap. Think Matilda, think. "Even if we don't power her up fully we need things working enough to mount file systems and back her up right?"

David nods slowly. "Your idea it is then. Who's bath?"

"I'd rather only a select few got to see her. Ems, Danny, mind if we use eleven for a bit?"

"Sure babes."

"Yeah, go on."

~~~

Toby opens the living room door to see Sophie and Miami practicing moves to Bounce. "Hi, um, mind if we come in?"

The two stop and turn to see them.

Sophie's expression changes, "Renie? What's happened?"

"My father died."

The flood gates opened. Sophie knew he wouldn't have a backup, he was lost. Renie was now an orphan. "Oh Renie!"

Seeing Sophie cry set Renie off again.

Toby watched the two, started feeling tears well up. Death stalked the land. Patrick, Mr Watson, the Mia clone. Who next? He wipes his eyes, "Um, I'll get the drinks. Rum and coke?"

Renie nods, "Please."

"Soph?"

"Can I have a small one?"

"Rum and coke?"

Sophie shows pinched fingers.

"Just a teeny bit. If Mum comes home and finds you tipsy I'm a.."

"Don't say it!"

Miami sits near them all, "I'm sorry for your loss Renie."

She wipes eyes, "Do I know you?"

"I'm a Mia fork, Miami."

Renie stares at her chest, wipes more tears, "You're a modded Sally."

"Technically I'm a HECLS British build of an American Sally revision two size D."

"Why?"

Miami looks to Toby, unsure of what to say.

Toby hands the two girls their drinks. "Miami needed an upgrade."

"Why?"

"Because."

Renie started crying again, her emotions high. "Because isn't an answer! Stop being like my father!"

"Because someone ran her down with a truck."

Renie's crying hitched a few times and stopped. "An accident?"

"No."

"Shit."

Toby sighs. Renie was a smart girl, on par with Mattie just in different fields. She was to math what Mattie was to code. And then sum. "Mats backed her broken body up in the US, got her data over here, Danny downloaded the specs and started a build."

Renie gives her eyes one last wipe. "I read about Pete. I wish I could say I miss my father. I missed him so much with his travelling I hardly knew him. Not the real him. The thing that makes me angry and sad is that now I can't. The house has to go too."

Sophie blows her nose on a hanky. "The house?"

"My father was a successful businessman but liked to party a bit too much. The house needs to go to pay off his debts."

Maverick, Rocket and Wrench enter clutching glasses and notepads. "Sorry, are we disturbing something?"

Toby shakes his head, "Come in, this is my friend Renie."

Maverick sits down and stares, mouth open.

"Maverick you old duffer, don't stare at the lady!"

"Sorry Wren, but.. doesn't she look like one of the computers?"

Renie gives him a slight scowl, "I'm not a synthie, I'm over that."

"A what?"

"Someone who lives like a synth."

"You have me wrong dear. A computer is someone who computes. NASA had a team of skilled mathematicians long before what we call computers today came in. They were women. And one looked a lot like you. Was your grandmother American?"

"No."

"And never worked for NASA?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"A coincidence then. A very beautiful one."

"You can't be talking about me."

~~~

David wrapped Miaz in a couple of blankets and got her over his shoulder. It was most unlikely the explosives had been built in. She'd been modded afterwards. He'd put money on it.

Whatever the trigger mechanism was it had fired late, maybe triggered by the drone's feedback to Odi. The blast had gone outwards in a circle, not up or down. Good old George, his skeleton design had withstood the blast, he wasn't having to carry up a head and torso separated from hips and legs. The blast had taken out the first nine of the steps up from the bottom, done some damage to the skin on her forearms. The walls had cracked but held. Danny would need to get his father over to check out the damage.

He put his foot in the loop at the end of the rope and grabbed it with his free hand. Looking up he sees the small circle of blue sky above. "Up please Max!"

~~~

Ron finished his lightning fast sketch and holds it up. "Wanna say that _You can't be talking about me_ crap again?"

Renie gives the sketch a odd look. "It's very nice, but that's not me."

"Hmm. What can I bet a young lady that won't get me into trouble.. I bet you a two week all expenses paid trip to anywhere on this rock hurling through space that it is."

Toby laughs, "Whoa, the man's confident! I'd take it Renie!"

Rocket waves to Sophie, "This side of the sofa's please, with that phone of yours."

Sophie hops over, bounces on the sofa. "You want a photo?"

"I want video."

"Okay?"

Ron looks at Renie, "Are you willing to participate my dear?"

She shrugs, "If it'll make you happy."

"Okay. Good. If looking forwards is twelve o'clock turn your head to ten thirty. Good. Now lift it a little, a little more, back a smidge, stop! Now close your eyes and imagine being tickled by a million feathers while having to hold your head still. Hmm. Feathers not working. How about.."

Wren lifts a cheek and does an almighty fart.

Renie fights off giggles for a number of seconds.

Ron grabs a cushion and wafts the air away from the group, "God damn it Wren! Chemical and biological weapons were banned and dismantled years ago! Or did they just hide the damn stuff up your arse!"

Renie cracks and has a good laugh, gets back into position a few seconds later.

Ron gets up close to look at Sophie's phone. "And stop. I win. You get the holiday for being such a good sport. Beautiful. I'm redoing that one in oils."

Toby gets to the other side of Sophie to Ron and sits. "Can I see?"

Sophie gets the end of the video back on screen, holds the phone up to the side of the sketch Ron was now holding up.

Toby's mouth sat in fly catching mode for a few seconds. "How.. how did you do that?"

"Years of observation, studying the human form, how it moves, bone structure, things like that. I'm old, I've had plenty hobbies."

"Ren, you've got to see this." He moves to make a gap, pats the cushion.

Renie gets between them. "Oh. My. God. That is me. Are you famous?"

"As an astronaut, not as an artist."

Toby smiles, "That is going to change. You have my word. Ha! Words."

~~~

[Chapter-64](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-64-1)


	64. Chapter 64

Mattie steps into the bathroom with her lap melter laptop to see David unwrapping Miaz. " _Holy fuck!_ "

"It made an awful mess of her abdominal area and lower back. If you see any signs of fine bubbling when she's in the fluid shout, that'll be her power cell starting a melt down."

"If I do I'll be dragging you out before any shouting, don't worry."

"You've seen one go up?"

"Marcus said something to Nis, she mentioned it to me, I YouTubed."

David picked Miaz up and gently turned her face down. "This looks like the cable that would have routed to her data port. Whichever one was the real one." He picks up side snippers and starts working at the cable sheath.

"Anything I can do David?"

"Sure, chop the end off that data cable, strip the ends. We'll solder them together then soak in fast curing silicon."

"Okay. Spare cutters?"

"Unwrap that cloth toolkit."

~~~

Renie closed her eyes and sipped ice cold rum and coke. "Rocket?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Instead of an all expenses trip, can I have a cheap bed and breakfast in London?" She opens them to see him answer.

"Why would you want that?"

"I'm going to be made homeless soon."

Sophie leans into her. "I could swap my double bed for two single beds? You could share my room."

"It's okay Sophie, I.."

Toby interrupts, "A great idea. Everyone here knows you. We all get on. Hell, we might even find a use for a computer. You're ace at maths."

Wrench gives her a frown, "You're absolutely sure your grandmother wasn't in America?"

~~~

David watched Mattie sort out the cable. "You're better at that than I'd expected. Done much wiring?"

"Just before this crazy week started Emily and I were paired up to fix a synth at uni. How's that?"

"Good enough. I'll spark up my soldering iron, this shouldn't take long."

"Spark up?"

"It's portable, runs off cigarette lighter fluid."

"That's handy. I'll order some up for our toolkits."

~~~

Miami gets passed a sketch by Ron. "And this is what's in my head for you."

It's studied closely. "Have you been a fashion and set designer in a past life?"

"No, I just remembered something I'd seen many years ago, added elements from other things."

Miami liked what he'd done. A lot. "When I return to America, I hope to do a deal with the stake house over the road to the burlesque club I used to star in. I'd need someone to help design and build a stage at one end."

"Don't do that, make one like you see in pop concerts."

"Like what?"

Ron quickly sketches. "Like this. Main stage, jetty, circular mini stage out on the floor. The restaurant seating can be around it all."

Toby gets a glimpse. "If that was a travelator and turntable."

Ron puts up a hand to high-five Toby. "That young man.. is inspired."

Miami is doing a slow nod, "We could do strut marches that took longer to get to the turntable, set the speed to match the duration needed for the song. I love it! And with the turntable everyone gets to see us, not just a few of us or our backs."

Ron gives her a smile, "How many is we?"

"Apart from myself there's Sammy, Clara, Jessica, Sally, the Poppy twins, Jane, Jenny and Stevie and Billie."

"Eleven then."

"Yes." She giggles. "Sam our head barman said when we perform we're two five a side teams with a stunning ref in the middle. He's originally from Cardiff. Obsessed about football."

Toby frowns, "Talking of football, has anyone seen the Max and Fred twins?"

"Outside with the Flashes."

~~~

Mattie watched David cover the soldered wires in clear silicon. "How long does that take to set?"

"Sixty seconds. It's a shame they don't do it in even smaller tubes. Once the end is broken the tube starts to set too. Slower of course as the air doesn't get in as fast, but it's never worth keeping. By the time you have another reason to use it it's set hard."

"Is it the oxygen?"

"It is."

"So if you stored it in a thin oil it might keep longer?"

"It might. Something to experiment with next time."

"How about a drop of synth fluid?"

"We could try."

Mattie pours a bit into the glass on the bathroom sink. "Try that."

"Thanks." He drops the small tube in. "Let's see if this works." Miaz is picked up, turned face up and lowered into the bath. "Powering up into standby maintenance mode only."

"How?"

"Give me your hand. If we're quick and you wash it straight after it won't stain too much."

"Show me another time then."

"As you wish. There, try mounting her file system."

"Okay.. finding the right keys shouldn't take too long." She switches on the 3D printed fan tray Danny had made her. "I've got this thing clocking at max, the job of trying keys split between all CPU cores.."

"And GPU?"

"Yup, that too."

"I like GPU. I gave Leo a few more in his new design. They make great number crunchers."

"He's running GPU?"

"Some low voltage ones that don't produce too much heat. Unlike that beast. Can you imagine having to strap a fan tray to your head."

~~~

Ron did another fast sketch, this time on Emily's iPad, she and Danny had taken a break from the workshop. "I need to get myself one of these."

Sophie smiles, "It's Thursday. Late night shopping until nine."

"Then today's the day. There, your new venue Miami."

"Hehe. You're hired!"

~~~

Mattie did a little wriggle. "Found it. File system mounting."

"Can you take a straight copy of everything, byte for byte like Max fixing Odi?"

"Um.. no. Not enough free storage by miles. She's been very busy considering how long she's existed."

"I want her backed up. How many external drives do we need?"

"Eight lots of four terabytes. We need to seriously think about getting a dedicated SAN storage array."

"Can one of the lads go out for us?"

"I'll go ask Leo. Have a nose around the file system while I'm gone. And keep an eye out for bubbles."

~~~

[Chapter-65](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-65-1)


	65. Chapter 65

Leo, Rocket Ron, Emily and Sophie got through the entrance of the Apple store and split three ways. Sophie took Ron to one of the staff to ask for an iPad Pro, Emily went to get a few iPad pens, Leo headed to the external hard drives.

A member of staff sees him checking the drives out. "Need any help?"

"Is all of your stock out?"

"We have a few out the back of the larger ones, what were you after?"

"Eight four TB drives, preferably with USB3 as they're not going on a mac."

"Oh. These ones have the best connectivity options should you want to use them on a mix of systems."

"Eight of those please. And a couple of USB3 hubs if you have them."

"We do, give me five and I'll get it all together."

"Thanks."

~~~

Sophie and Ron joined him, Ron had an Apple bag hung from his shoulder. "That was quick."

Sophie nods, "They have bags in draws under the table. And a iPhone card machine."

Emily joins them, "Pens sorted."

Leo thumbs in the direction of a door, "Someone's checking out back for stock. Any cool toys to play with Sophie?"

"Here or back home?"

They hear someone trying out a Bluetooth speaker.

Sophie does some dance moves, grabs her phone, Shazams. "Another for Miami! Rihanna SOS! Ooh, just thought of another, Guetta Commander. I feel like the DJ is my bodyguard. Miami should have someone to protect her."

Leo smiles, "I have a feeling she'll have a few offering their services."

"Who?"

"You've not seen the astronauts dribbling?"

"No?"

The person changes the track on the iPod.

"Ooo! Another strutting and hip popping track. Who's this.. Ida Corr. Let Me Think About It. Cool!"

The girl playing tracks walks away. Sophie runs over, skips to the next track and giggles, "I know this one. Maybe Ron in his new body can sing it for Miami?"

Emily gets closer to read the display as Sophie gets a finger up to change track again. "David Guetta, Sexy Bitch. Damn Girl! I know that one."

Sophie taps. "Guru Josh Project, Infinity 2008. Hehe, we should do a version for Buzz. To infinity." The thing's tapped again. "Oh my.. who's is this?"

Emily recognised the track. "Wynter Gordon, Dirty Talk! Definitely _not_ one for when kids are in the restaurant!"

A red faced member of staff races over, "I think my iPod's fully charged now thanks." She pulls the thing from the stand and taps pause.

Sophie giggles, "We're looking for tracks for a burlesque dancer who wants to do something different."

"Oh. Give me an email and I'll ping you a few ideas."

"Sophie at H E C L S dot com."

"Sir?"

Leo turns to see two large bags being carried. "Hi."

"Four drives and a hub per bag."

"Excellent!"

~~~

[Chapter-66](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-66-1)


	66. Chapter 66

Mattie looks at the screen, sighs, "The explosion did do some damage after all. Two percent corruption the fast check says. Sods law the bit we want the most was in there."

They were making a good team. David was hooked up to the laptop, controlling the keyboard input of one window while Mattie types to control another. "I hope not, others may be missing her already. I've found a few interesting memories. One is of her talking to an equipment rack."

"A rack?"

"Mattie I think it was running an AI. It may have forked. If we can find that we may be able to trace the ultimate source."

"Can you tell where?"

He shakes his head, "The link to that node in her fact store is one of the two percent. Along with what was inside the rack. There's a memory of her unlocking the front of it and starting to open the door, that's it."

Mattie does her regular bubbles check, sees ripples. "Um.. David."

He turns to see. "Don't panic, that's her pump trying to get more fluid about."

"So she's warming up?"

"A little. She's still in maintenance mode. Have we got freezer blocks?"

"Let me phone the kitchen, see if anyone's there."

"It's okay, I've bumped."

Mattie watches the ripples grow. "I hope she was the only one modded to blow up."

"Me too. Can you imagine half a million of them going up? In coordinated groups they could take out lots of infrastructure."

Mattie gives him a worried look. "And people."

"True. But people would be a short term target. Infrastructure would ultimately kill more longer term."

"I wonder who their designated survivor is?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"A Netflix series. You should watch it. The parallels to what we've got are spooky."

"Could it be what gave them the idea?"

"You think an AI would watch telly?"

David raises an eyebrow, "It's a good way to learn how humans think and act."

"True. Maybe that can be used against them too."

"How?"

"Leo calls me Angel. But I have an evil streak, suppressed, it can be creative." She bounces eyebrows.

"Give me your first off the cuff idea then."

"Erm.. Our Mia does a high power bump. HECLS has been taken over, her synths are to check in for an upgrade that will let them get power from food, survive off human flesh once the power lines and roads are taken out by the few who dedicated their lives to the cause."

"God your mind has some dark corners. That's _evil_."

"Corners? It's like Stranger Things. There's a whole other level."

"Stranger Things?"

"Are you telling me you've not watched it either? Netflix original series?"

"Sorry, Poppy likes all the romantic comedy."

There's a knock at the door, "David, Mattie, is it safe to come in?"

"Sure Mia."

~~~

Emily opens the car boot for Leo. "They look heavy."

"They are. They shouldn't be so heavy. I'm tempted to open one up. Ron, you sit in the front, you've got longer legs than me."

"If you don't mind I'd like to sit in the back with Sophie, get my pad working."

Sophie opens the passenger door and jumps in.

Emily smiles, "Pinky, check the fastest route back to Heckles House please."

"Sure Babes."

Leo does a tiny head shake. "She sounds a _lot_ like you."

"I was going to use Mattie's voice, it felt a bit weird talking to Mattie without her sitting next to me. So used my own. It's pitch shifted a little."

"A little. It doesn't feel weird talking to something that sounds like yourself?"

"No Babes."

~~~

David looked at the ripples on the synth fluid again, they were getting smaller. "Have any of our guests talked to you about The British Interplanetary Society yet?"

"No?"

"Founded in Liverpool in 1933 by Phil Cleator. It's the oldest space advocacy organisation in the world! We should join."

"Liverpool's the last place I'd have guessed."

"Same here. Your earlier _few who dedicated their lives to the cause_ , that could work. If they all have explosives then they assume a few would go up, not all. If one gets the message and doesn't have any they'll just assume others did."

~~~

"Sophie Babes?"

Sophie keeps her eyes on Ron and his iPad. "Yes?"

"If I lift my bum quick can you pull my hair out from underneath me? I've sat on it and can't move my head freely."

"Oh, sure. Where do you want it?"

"Over my shoulders, to the side, anywhere but under my tush."

~~~

David clapped. "Superb!"

"What have you found?"

"The long searching has paid off. What looks to me like a complete list of Synth ID for her army."

"How do you know it's completely there?"

"She has a memory of the count of rows in the table. And there are exactly that number of rows."

"Good. How many exactly?"

"The PI got it wrong."

"Don't tease! How many!"

"Six hundred and twenty seven thousand, four hundred and thirteen."

"Point six million? Holy frigging crap! The free power mod would be a fib of course, just a way to encourage them to ripple the message out to others in their list."

David chuckles, "Fred would be working non-stop on them until he suffered a catastrophic failure well into the future. I don't want that happening."

"Do you think they all know the list?"

"Why'd you ask?"

"When bumping messages around do they call each other by row number, name, something else?"

"A very good question. More digging through memories required."

~~~

[Chapter-67](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-67-1)


	67. Chapter 67

Renie slid down the sofa a little, "This. This. This is the good stuff."

Toby clinked glasses. "To the family's latest member, our new computer."

The door opens and Laura walks in.

"Mum! You're early!"

"Bloody jury members! Two managed to sneak camera phones in and were filming. They were only found out when a synth was called as a witness. The whole thing's going to need a restart from the beginning with a new jury. I could have killed them. Is that our best rum you have there? Bloody hell Toby! What have I said about.."

"Mum! Chill."

"Don't you tell me to chill.."

"Mum! Renie's going to be sharing Sophie's room."

Laura took her jacket off and threw it at a sofa back, "Why?"

"She's being made homeless."

Being a lawyer she'd seen many reasons for young adults to suddenly find themselves being made homeless. Renie's silent face spoke volumes. The tension from a mad couple of days in court ebbed away, replaced with empathy. "Renie, I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do?"

"If you can rewind time and prevent my father having a fatal heart attack.."

Laura sat and put a hand over her mouth. "Oh Renie, I'm so so sorry. You're more than welcome here. Do you have anything at the house that needs collecting?"

Renie shakes her head.

"You'll have to share a bed with Sophie tonight, Toby'll sort out beds in the morning. Won't you Toby?"

"Yeah, yeah, no probs. I'll get the supplier details from Mia."

"Good. Apart from that sad news how's everything been here today?"

"Apart from the Mia copy doing a self destruct, fine."

"Please say nobody was hurt!"

"Everyone's fine Mum."

"Where's Soph?"

"On her way back from the shops with Emily, Leo and Rocket. They went for storage drives and an iPad."

"What's on the menu for tonight? Are you cooking or Mia?"

"We're all going out. It's Danny's birthday."

"Today?"

"Thursday?"

"Damn it. Have you given him a card already?"

Toby does his sideways grin, "You're so old school Mum."

"Cards are nice. I've got a selection in my room, I'll bring the box down. Renie can help you pick one. Since the good rum is disappearing pour me a double."

~~~

Half an hour later David was hooking the hubs and drives up. "I'll stay here and watch over her, we don't all want to be off site for Danny's just in case. Make sure Odi goes, tell him I'll monitor all the cameras."

"I'm not sure just one is a good idea."

"Then just for tonight I'll jump into all of Mia's spares. Would that make you happier?"

"It would. Thanks."

"Keep an eye on Miaz a moment while I go get into the first, I'll be back to take over in a few minutes while he or she gets into the next."

"Okay. Speaking of he or _she_. Did you at any time enjoy being in the Cindy?"

David thought for a moment. "I enjoyed the freedom to move about it gave me. I hated the solitude. And I _really_ hated being touched inappropriately by men. Which was only fair punishment for what I did to Niska."

"What exactly did you do?"

"That I cannot say out loud."

"Type it then."

"Haha. No. What I will say is that the experiment resulted in working Matryoshka code. Which got Niska angry all those years ago but eventually saved her."

"Matryoshka? You were experimenting with alternate root code? The emergency recovery?" Penny's dropped like a player winning massively on Tipping Point. "You thought you'd booted her on a temporary root code, when in fact she'd rebooted into the proper one."

"Yes. One tiny bug. I got my bit-mask wrong by one bit."

"And you fucked her."

"Yes."

"Fucking hell. You fuck up code and stick your one in her zero. No wonder she and Mia were so frigging angry."

"Do you have to keep using those F words?"

"Yes."

~~~

[Chapter-68](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-68-1)


	68. Chapter 68

The front door had a sign saying Closed For Two Hours, Private Party. Danny goes a little warm in the face. He was expecting a standard GBK restaurant, not one with a small temporary stage at the back. The large Happy Birthday Danny banner made it clear there was a birthday being celebrated. His.

Emily and Miami had made excuses and disappeared as soon as they got inside.

"Dan Mate! What are you drinking?"

"The strongest thing they've got please Tobs. I think I'm going to need it." He watches Sophie walk to the door to the toilets, make hand signs to Max. "I hope I don't embarrass myself again."

"Chilax dude."

Massive hands grab Danny's shoulders from behind. "Appy birthday Dan."

He didn't need to turn to know who it was, "Dozer!" He turns to see his father and mother too, her assistant Cindy. "Hi!"

"Hello Son, Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks Dad."

His mother leans in for a kiss, "Happy birthday Daniel."

"Thanks Mum."

Cindy air kisses him on both sides, "Are you having a nice birthday Danny?"

"It's been full on, that's for sure, very.. um.. different." He watches as his parents are shown to a table by Fred.

"Prince Daniel!"

Daniel turns to see Prince James and Sandra. For a change she'd toned her clothes right down, looked more like a smart wag than a porn star. "Wow! Look at you James. What a swagger."

Sandra airs kisses him. "Thanks to you and the rest of the team. He's progressing slowly. We're deliberately taking it slow, making sure we don't cause problems with the tubes."

"How long have you been in the UK?"

"On the ground? Two hours, twenty three minutes and six seconds. The flight was great. Getting here from BQH, what a nightmare! Still, we're here. You're looking good."

"Am I?"

"You have a nice colour."

"Thanks. You're both looking good."

James smiles, "Thank you Daniel, how's Emily?"

"Good! Very good. You'll notice a change when you see her."

Sandra takes his arm, "Please excuse us if we mingle, James will want a chat with your parents."

"Sure. Lovely to see you both."

Niska and Astrid were next in line to give him their wishes. To his surprise Laura had her phone ready to take a photo. They got either side of him, cheek to cheek and said cheese.

"What's that all about?"

Astrid pulls out a folded sheet of paper and hands it over. "Dies. I mean _This_."

Daniel opens it to see a drawing of a finished bike being ridden by two people. From their curves and the heals of their boots clearly women. Surrounding the inner drawing were a number of construction diagrams, cross sections and exploded diagrams showing how sections would come together and give it super strength with low weight. There were seven words in a tiny handwriting. Water jet cut aircraft grade aluminium.

He looks up at a very happy looking Astrid. "Who drew this?"

"Emily did the inner drawing, Ron the outer ones based on the input from Wrench. Who based his design on your CAD frame shape."

"Water jet cutting eh? My printing and milling machine can take all sorts of heads, it's easy to scale it up a bit more too, like we did in Zurich for James. I could add a laser cutter and water jet. Awesome! I take it this is the two of you?"

Astrid and Niska both nod.

"And you Nis, you want to be the test rider?"

Another nod. "In a spare body at first, I'm not risking this one."

"Really? You don't want to be in the video and photos?"

"I do but.."

"No buts. If anything goes wrong we crank up the build machine and make you another. DCL will cover the costs."

"Okay."

Laura coughs, "My turn!"

Niska gives Danny a peck on the cheek, "We'll talk more later."

"Sure. Keep this somewhere very safe please."

Astrid takes it back and slides it into her top. "I'll keep it close to my heart."

~~~

David looks up from the lap melter as the bathroom door opens.

A Simon steps in. "You wouldn't believe how boring it is when there's only a dozen of yourself to talk to. How's the backup going?"

"It's getting there. There's an awful lot of data."

"I know. Mattie said she'd been busy. Any more gems found since the forking?"

"A few."

"Go on."

"Prove you're still me."

"What?"

"Prove you're not one of them." He nods towards Miaz.

"You must be joking. You're the one monitoring all the bloody cameras! You've seen our sorry attempts to play a game of football. A pointless waste of time when you're all the same person and can predict the moves of every other player. At no point has another synth come onto the estate! You want me to prove I'm me? You. To use Mattie's language you can stick your 1 up your own frigging 0." He turns to leave.

"You passed. Sit down."

~~~

Laura and Michael give Danny a card and small wrapped gift.

Michael gives his arm a squeeze, "To be opened at home."

"Okay, thanks."

Sophie taps the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you could take your seats please."

Laura turns to see more behind them. "You have to do a meet and greet part two Danny."

"Yeah, looks that way." He turns to the rest of the guests, "Thanks for coming guys, let's chat in a bit."

~~~

[Chapter-69](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-69-1)


	69. Chapter 69

With everyone sat down, reserved spaces for four, Sophie does a little nod. "Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce Max the Marvellous!"

Danny hadn't given much thought to the long black curtain that covered the back wall. It dropped below the stage to reveal Emily and Miami in gorgeous costumes, Max in a tux and top hat. They weren't dancers tonight they were magician's apprentices. Sophie races to the tables to sit with Renie.

The three on stage take a step forwards away from the wall.

Max takes off his hat and reaches inside, looks mighty confused. He turns the hat upside down and gives it a good pat. Nothing falls out. He beckons Emily closer, whispers in her ear. She does an exaggerated shrug, arms partially up. Max looks worried. It gets a few laughs. He does the same with Miami. Again a most worried look.

He turns his back to the audience and beckons for the two to join him. He pulls them close so they're standing hip to hip. A glance is given over his shoulder as if to see if anyone was watching. There's a loud zip opening noise and a wriggle. He nods to Emily, gets one returned. Then to Miami. They get back to their positions and Max turns as if they'd not been up to anything. Two little felt material bunny ears rise out of the top of the hat. He gently pushes them back down.

Sophie does an "Awww." She's seen him practice with the fake ears and cotton thread to make them rise.

Then the ears shoot up, a white kitten's head below them. It puts front paws on the hat rim.

Sophie does a squee noise and the cat jumps.

Max is fast, catches it mid fall to the floor. "I know it's Danny's birthday but this gift is for Sophie."

Sophie does an excited wriggle. "Please Mummy!"

"Go get him."

Sophie almost falls over getting off the bench seat, races to the stage.

Max squats down, "There's a cat box just behind the door for when the food comes out."

~~~

David taps a finger on the screen, "And this bit.. someone's coming. A van."

"We see it now. The registration mark is one Odi shared. It's a delivery."

"Did he say we were expecting more parcels?"

"He didn't. Hubert us is on his way."

"Good. Thanks for making a sensible choice with Mia's spare synths."

"Not using the Poppy models?"

"Exactly. I hope she's enjoying the party."

~~~

Max was onto his next trick. Saw the lady in half. Flash got onto the table as Emily and Miami did their bit holding a sheet up to block the view, wave hands slowly and be the pretty distractions.

Sophie stroked the kitten through the front of the cat box. "He's sooo cute. What shall I call him?"

Renie put a finger in and had it licked. "Ghost, Casper, Snowy.."

"I like Snowy. He likes you."

Emily and Miami take the same side of the stage revealing Flash on the table with a box over her middle. Max gets a big nasty saw out.

Dozer points. "Hay! That's mine you thief!"

Max puts a finger to his lips. "Please Dozer, not now, I'm busy."

As he puts the saw into the slot at the top the front panel falls off the table revealing the second of the Flash twins. The one they'd seen get on the table was bent into a yoga like pose, her legs underneath. Her twin had her shoulders on the base of the cabinet, her body bent into a slight S shape to get her legs up onto the top. It got hoots of laughter, not so much because they'd been revealed, but because Flash two had a LED head torch on and was knitting to pass the time. Max continues to saw into the empty space as if nothing had happened.

~~~

Simon sits on the bath edge, "The ripples are returning, I'll get more ice packs."

"No need, it'll be done in twenty minutes. I'll keep an eye on them."

"Sure?"

"Sure."

"Hubert says it's a heavy box of sensor chips."

"Can he open it and verify it."

"He already has. Forty large tapes of them. And yes he's checked they're not hollow and hiding a surprise."

"Good. We should get an x-ray post scanner."

"Agreed. But not get, make."

"And make it intelligent."

"Very. Alfie intelligent."

"Emily's been quite the surprise. A pleasant one at that. Quite the coders her and Mattie. They give Leo a good level of competition."

"Considering his processing advantage, yes."

"Hubert says a second van is approaching."

"I've seen it. Also a regular. Probably more filament, the filament's often sent DHL."

"True."

~~~

Max slides shutters in and pulls the table a little separating the two halves. Flash two fakes a yawn and keeps knitting. The two halves are joined back together.

Miami and Emily pick the front of the cabinet up and put it back in place. Emily slips off a shoe and pretends to hammer the front back on.

Sheet spread out they again hide the table and Flash one can be seen getting up.

The sheet is lowered as Max and Flash do a bow.

Through the laughs and applause Poppy can be heard shouting.

Max frowns, "Let who out?"

"Flash!"

"She's here?"

"The other Flash!"

"Which other Flash? The one sat at the table?"

Poppy turns around to see Flash waving. "But.."

Danny chuckles, "You sneaky git Max! You've got a third!"

Max pulls the front of the cabinet off, it was empty.

Danny looks from the stage to Flash and back multiple times. Then she held up her knitting. "How the heck?"

Max looks to the side as a door creaks, "Good timing, dinner is ready."

~~~

[Chapter-70](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-70-1)


	70. Chapter 70

David shut down the laptop for moving to the workshop, powered off all of the drives. Next he carefully lifted Miaz just enough to work the connector to her power cell free. The ripples slowed and stopped. There was to be no accidental powering up of this one. He considered saving all the synth fluid and instead pulled the plug.

While the bath drained he washed his hands in the sink, dried them and looked at Miaz. Such a shame. She might not have been aware of the payload she carried. He'd not found anything in her memories yet to suggest she did. If she hadn't been part of the decision making who had? Was it the AI in a rack?

He'd have a Simon chained to Miley scan the whole backup first. He'd taken a huge risk poking around in her file system. Even with his virus protection something unexpected could get in. Virus protection was a cat and mouse game, you could only protect against the known. The unknown, Day Zero events, they were a problem. Something needed to get infected before you could write new detection code. He thought about the first laws, they were still intact. He thought up some code to check his root code against the last Matryoshka backup. All deltas could be explained. Good.

~~~

Danny took another bite of his burger while Fred sang Fly Me To The Moon. The three astronauts were doing seated dancing, quite enjoying the evening's entertainment.

"How's your burger Babes?"

Danny rubs shoulders with Emily and gives a thumbs up.

"Another lager?"

He shakes his wrist, looks at his birthday present from the Hawkins family, a hackable smart watch. Time. Another thumbs up.

"Cool babes."

Fred gets a round of applause and whistles for his song.

Sophie wipes her mouth and picks up the radio microphone. "Our third and final act is Emily and Miami performing Mamma Mia."

Emily raced to the counter to ask for another drink for Danny, "Give me five Soph!"

~~~

David put the drives on the worktop bolted to the wall, started connecting everything back up as Simon wrapped the blanket covered Miaz in tape. It was a good job Frank and Dozer had been busy, unable to move Miley to her new home. He bumps.

"I beg your pardon!"

"You heard."

"You want me to chain myself to that?"

"Yes."

"Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because you are going to be the one to do a full scan of her backup. Everything. If you're infected with something we lose a Simon not a custom David Elster."

"Thanks a bunch. I should have expected something like this, what with me being you. If I don't know where padlocks and chain are how would you?"

"I don't. Have a look around."

"Plan for the worst, hope for the best?"

"Yup. PWHB as Mattie abbreviated it."

"When did she do that?"

"After the first fork, just before she left for the party."

"Oh. Fair enough."

~~~

Three quarters of an hour later Toby does a less than perfect walk into the workshop and puts a crate of lager bottles on the floor. "What the.. getting a bit kinky David?" He burps loudly.

David turns to see the young man. "You've been drinking."

"Correct! And you've chained a synth up."

"He, I, did it my, himself."

"I'm supposed to be the one intoxicated. You're talking gibberish."

The rest of the gang file in.

Toby points to the Simon. "David's more drunk than me. How's that possible?"

David shakes his head, "Now you're back the other me can come in and power down. Not Simon me, he's got a job to do."

Toby wobbles a bit, "Ahhhh. They're all you. Me, myself and I. And him. And him and him and her.."

Mattie shakes her head, "We get it Tobs."

"What _I_ don't get is how Flash teleported to her seat at the table."

"She didn't you muppet. It was a trick."

"Nope. One moment she was in the thing on the stage, the next, poof, like magic sat at the table."

"The nearest thing we had to a poof was.. didn't you notice the tables to the left with the extra large table cloths that went down to the floor?"

"What about them?"

"You didn't wonder what they were doing there?"

"No?"

"Ask again when you're sober."

~~~

Danny sits and fires up his CAD software. "Astrid, can I look at that drawing again?"

"Sure."

"Hmm. Nice and warm. If the frame goes together like that.. then I reckon.. Right! I need a pot of coffee, all the cardboard boxes you can liberate from the supermarket, some good music and dancing from those that want to."

Mattie gives him an odd look. "Cardboard?"

"I'm going to research what I need for a water jet cutter head tomorrow, we'll prototype in thick cardboard tonight so Astrid and Nis can check it for size."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight. The bike design having a physical presence will share the same birthday."

"Cool. Tobs, music. Who's driving?"

Niska's hand raise beats the others.

"Nis you're with me then."

Astrid's face drops a little.

"You too Astrid, you do come as a set don't you?"

She grins, "We do."

"Come on then. This shouldn't take long."

~~~

[Chapter-71](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-71-1)


	71. Chapter 71

Danny went through some of the draws. "Sharpie pens. Who's taken all the Sharpie pens?"

Sophie pulled open another. "They're all here, back in the pack in the right order."

"You're not going all OCD on us are you?"

Wrench coughs, "A place for each tool and each tool in it's place."

Maverick does a big belly laugh, "And if _you're_ the tool?"

"Then a comfortable bed with good company and a hot coco."

"And if Coco would rather be with someone else?"

"The drink you old duffer! Shame we can't bring Gabrielle back, she might have enjoyed hanging out with this lot."

Danny takes the black pen and opens another draw, takes a small roll of electrical tape, sees Toby looking at the astronauts with one eye closed. "Mate. What are you up to?"

"It's easier seeing three of them not six."

"Jeez, how many bottles did you get through?"

"Don't forget I started the day early on the rum."

Laura shakes her head, "My son's a lightweight, look at Renie, she looks fine. This workshop needs more chairs, my feet are killing me."

Danny shoves his and it glides in her direction, "Have mine. Tobs mate, where's the music?"

"Sorry, let me get Miami's playlist going."

~~~

Alfie had a tool head change, had the Sharpie pen taped on. Danny goes to the first of the CAD designs, a full model of the finished bike, runs a few macros on it. "Sweet!"

Sophie gives it a puzzled look. "That looks.. almost the same."

"Perfect then."

"What did the macro thingy do then?"

He waves her closer, clicks an option, "Move the mouse to do a real time slice and hide to peep inside it."

She does. "Wow! It's.. it's like those 3D puzzles made out of plywood, like the one Toby got a few years ago."

"That's what the macros are for. Puzzler.mco. Alfie can draw out the shapes, we cut them out."

"With?"

"Knives or hacksaw blades."

"Can't Alfie cut them?"

"I've tried milling cardboard, the dust is insane."

"Then get Henry and Alfie working together."

~~~

Wrench ambles over, "You have Henry in England too?"

Danny rests on Alfie's print bed. "Henry the Hoover? Yeah."

"Technically he's Henry the Numatic. Hoover is another's brand. Go to Thingiverse and find Wrench32, I've got a Henry hose adapter for when I'm drilling holes in walls. It might need adjusting to fit around your tool, it's been modified loads of times to get the best air flow."

"Cool, Wrench32 you say.."

~~~

The manager looked at the three women. "You want _all_ of it?"

Mattie smiles. "Yup. Every one. If that's okay?"

"Got a lot going on eBay do you? Everyone wants to make shipping boxes."

"No, we're making something else."

"Got a van with you?"

Niska flashes a brief smile, "We'll cut out the bit we want and bin the rest."

"We're open twenty four hours, it'll be breakfast time before you're even half done, I'll see you in the cafe later."

Astrid does a little finger wave, "See you later then."

Mattie watches him go, turns back to the others. "It's definitely big enough Nis?"

"The message from Danny said he wants lots of cardboard all the same thickness with no folds, whatever the size. These fruit boxes are all identical."

Mattie picks one up, spins it around, "He has a point. To cut out all the way around here just to get the sides off.."

"Then I cut the corners, there and there on each."

"And we fold them flat. Danny's machine gets told the usable bit has a boarder."

Astrid nods, "We has plan."

"We have a plan."

"We has plan. Like I can has cheezburger."

Mattie rolls her eyes, "Soph looking at cat memes again?"

"She's already made one for Snowy."

"That cat better have a full quota of lives, it's going to need them with Dan about. We're already in the loading bay, how about you do the cutting Nis, Astrid flattens and passes on, I pack?"

~~~

Toby looks at his phone with one eye. "Sod this. Mia, can you remember something for me please?"

"Of course dear."

"Time travelling ideas."

"Is that it?"

"That's it."

"You have ideas about time travel?"

"I have an idea for a story. An _idea_ is sent back in time. How to build David's head thing and back people up. They have no idea if a restore will work, just a strong belief that some day it will."

Ron looks up from his tablet, "So they create a giant archive?"

"Of minds. Yeah. Mind Archive. Mind Arc. Us. Project MARCUS. Thousands of years later they all wake up in new bodies."

Ron scribbles, "What's the twist?"

"Twist?"

"What's the punchline? The thing that makes everyone go _Oh Shit!_ "

Sophie giggles, "They all get new bodies, but the machine gets them _all_ mixed up. Like David in a Cindy or Simon mixed up."

Ron gives her a nod, "That's a humdinger of a twist! All of them?"

"Imagine Finding Nemo and Finding Dory for humans and they're _all_ lost. _Have you seen my body? Are you my Mummy?_ "

Wrench has a good laugh, farts loudly. "Oh dear! I think.. Abandon ship! Abandon ship! To the escape pods _now_!"

~~~

Mattie took the unfolded box from Astrid, watched Niska dispatch the next. It was a fast grab from the wire cage, slice, slice, spin in the air, grab and repeat slicing until all four corners were cut. Corners cut it was thrown underarm to Astrid who pulled at the sides to unfold it.

Mattie quickly slid the one in her hands into a gap and took the next.

Niska had got it down to six seconds a box. "Have we got enough?"

"We've been doing it for twenty minutes. I reckon so."

"I estimate another seven boxes in this cage."

"Might as well do them then Nis. They either send them for recycling infrequently or they sell a _huge_ amount of fruit."

Astrid pointed, "Lots of fruit. I've been watching the dates on the labels, none of these boxes are more than a week old."

~~~

[Chapter-72](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-72-1)


	72. Chapter 72

Danny wrote a Python script to add numbers to each shape in a different line colour.

Fred was watching. "Why green?"

"I'm going to set up two tools. The pen will go first, draw numbers on using the green data, the second tool will do the cutting of lines in black. Putting it together will be easier."

"You said numbers on. More than one per part?"

"Yup. Each will have slots. One goes to one, two to two.."

"It will be quick to assemble then?"

"It should be."

They hear the familiar sounds of the ladies shoes in the hall. The door was propped open from when Wrench had gassed the room.

Niska appears first, loads of cardboard in her arms. "Can someone come and help?" She drops hers onto the worktop. "We got quite a bit."

~~~

Danny chuckles at the sight of the back of the car. "Wow! That's a lot of cardboard! If the bike works tonight maybe we can do a regular cardboard collection and build up a supply. We could prototype all sorts of things. Like a section of the lift, even the bunship."

Mattie doesn't look convinced. "In cardboard?"

"Yeah. This stuff is strong, if the forces are kept in the right directions." He passes a load to Flash. "And you can use a broom handle or similar to add strength to long sections."

Laura gives Danny a friendly rub on the shoulder, "Were you a sticky back plastic and lollypop stick sort of kid?"

"Blue Peter Tracey Island? I'm too young to have seen it but Dad told me all about it. So yeah, I make stuff." He hands her a stack.

"A few more Danny. Lawyers are good at carrying. Stacks of files usually."

"Okay." He loads her up, looks at Sophie. "Only a few left, we'll go halves okay?"

"Okay."

~~~

Back inside the three find everyone standing around Alfie, a sheet of cardboard on the bed.

Toby has the vacuum cleaner hose in his hand. "I'll connect Henry, you tap green to start Alfie."

Danny drops his card onto the floor, gets ready. "Power to Henry." The vacuum cleaner starts. "And Go!" He presses the button. The pen tool whips down the line and draws a load of numbers.

Sophie squeezes through the group to see. "Why are the numbers so big? Why not a single digit?"

"It's starting from the middle of the model. We can start assembly as soon as the second shape is cut."

"Yay! So we'll finish before midnight?"

"I hope so."

The pen tool shot to the far end making space for the milling tool. The bit spun up, the tool raised and moved, dropped and started cutting.

Leo frowned, "Did anyone check Henry's bag? Hopefully he's not full."

"I changed it yesterday."

"Thanks Toby."

Danny watches the milling head. "Shame we don't have a second Henry, we could get the cutting faster."

Wrench watches the tool move. "If the RPM is high on the milling bit can Alfie up the step rate around the cutting lines? If we were in my workshop I'd push it more and more until it messed one up, then back off a little."

"You have a workshop?"

"I make furniture for a hobby. My milling rig fills a garage. Six feet by twelve."

"Whoa! That's big. Why didn't you say?"

"I wanted to see what you'd come up with first. I can see one problem. What's holding the card down in the middle?"

"Nothing."

"It's going to shift. Or lift up."

"What stops it on yours?"

"A vacuum bed."

Mattie hits red. Alfie lifts and parks the tool.

"What'd you do that for?"

"Dan, let's do this. How many cutting tools can you set up?"

"With the thin cutter? Three."

"Then get printing two more Henry adapters and make a vacuum bed with Wrench, we'll go get more Henry."

"Okay. Three cutting heads will be fast."

Mattie turns to Niska, "Mind driving again?"

~~~

Danny sent Wrench to the stores to find something suitable to make the bed from while he made a quick CAD design along the lines of the penned diagram. It would have five layers of wood. The bottom rectangle would be untouched. The next three would have a tree like set of paths cut. They'd allow the vacuum to reach the holes in the top sheet while preventing the vacuum from warping the top board.

Wrench returns with a large sheet of ply. "Got a jig saw?"

"Um.. do we Mia?"

"Hubert me used one for the kitchen worktops when we did the build. Let me bump."

"Thanks."

"He says yes. He's been using it to make planters to go around their building, he's bringing it over."

"Cool. Let me get Alfie doing two more Henry adapters."

~~~

[Chapter-73](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-73-1)


	73. Chapter 73

By ten to eleven they were all stood around Alfie again, all four vacuum cleaners running.

Sophie yawned, "Come on Danny! Hit green!"

"Okay, okay.. here goes."

Wrench watches the pen number the cardboard again, then the three milling heads take up their positions left, center and right. "Now that I like. If my rig had as many tool heads active as yours I could make things super fast. The only thing I have to speed mine up is the rotary tool head changer."

"The what?"

"Four tool heads on the one arm. It turns ninety degrees each time to go from thin milling bit to thick to drill to curved bit. They're all in the Y axis so wouldn't hit each other. The only downside is that you lose a little bit of workspace, but the frame's easy enough to expand."

"Hmm. That's an idea.." The tools all rose and got to one end. Alfie beeped. "Sweet! That was fast. Bed vacuum off please Toby." The card was removed, a new sheet put in it's place. "And back on."

~~~

Sophie held the first part, watched the second being marked and cut. The scrap from the first had been passed back through the group and dropped on the floor. Nobody wanted to look away. The second part was off in a matter of seconds.

"Okay Sophie, you can start our 3D jigsaw puzzle."

"How do I know I've got them the right way around?"

"Danny holds his hands in a cross, "Imagine my palms are the sides with the numbers, the numbers that match will always be facing each other."

Sophie slots the first two together, "Like that then?"

"Perfect." Alfie beeped. "Here's the third."

Again the scrap was send backwards through the group, a new opened box put on the vacuum bed.

"Tobs, Henry please."

Henry's switch is flicked.

Wrench gets his small notebook, draws a scribbled diagram. "For next time make a valve Alfie can open and close to control the air, that way the vacuum cleaner can stay on, not need to spin up and down."

"Want to design one?"

"Now?"

"Why not? The frame's long enough to print a part at the far end while the others mark and cut."

"We'd need a small motor to drive a gear to turn the butterfly valve."

"No problem, we have some from all the gadgets and toys we've been dismantling."

~~~

Emily smiled at her man. The birthday gifts he'd been given had made him happy, but time with another maker, you couldn't put a price on that. Danny was in his element and loving it. She leaned a bit more into her father, "How long are you staying for?"

"We fly back tomorrow, we have a hotel room booked, apart from the bags being there it doesn't look like we'll get to use it much."

"Why?"

"I want to see this finished."

~~~

Danny got his callipers and measured the size of Henry's connector quickly while Toby had it off for a sheet change. "How's your head mate?"

"Good thanks, I can see okay now with both eyes open."

"Awesome. Hopefully this will be a quick print." He returns to the desk, looks at the T shaped tube Wrench and Leo had put together in the CAD package. "All done?"

Leo clicked and dragged a cylinder, "We just need to cut out the holes with a couple of these, add a block for the motor."

"Cool. The callipers are locked at the size you need, I'll get some wire hooked up so Alfie can control the motor. How's he going to know the valve is open or closed?"

"What inputs has Alfie got free?"

"Analog and digital."

Wrench turns to look up at him. "Got microswitches and resisters?"

"Sure."

"Then we have two wires running to an analog input, the microswitches add a voltage, one for valve open, another for closed."

"Zero volts if moving between positions?"

"Hmm. Got plenty resisters?"

"Hundreds."

"Make it one, three and five volts, if zero Alfie knows a wire's come off."

"Easy. Ems, can you teach Alfie something new while he's running?"

"Yeah, easy. What do you need?"

"Let me wire up some bits and plug it in, he needs to control a motor, know when a valve is open or closed."

"Sure babes."

James took his arm from around her, "Can I watch?"

"Sure Daddy."

~~~

[Chapter-74](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-74-1)


	74. Chapter 74

James watched his daughter work, "This might as well be written in martian. You understand it?"

"It took a lot of study and experimenting."

"What language is it in?"

"SMART-L. Synthetic Memory and Rational Thinking Language."

"What are you doing? At a high level."

"In this window I'm asking Alfie what inputs he has unused. Analog seven Dan. In this one I'm telling Alfie to keep thinking about the values seen on that input and refer to them as valve. A value close to one is open, three is valve is turning, five is closed. Zero is oops, all stop. Then this section says when the green button is pressed close the valve and wait for it to be closed before doing the marking and cutting. After beeping to say a cut has finished open the valve. Actually.. he should start opening it the moment the cutting stops and the tools start to move out of the way." She moves a few lines up to another section.

Mattie smiles, "Simple."

"Thanks to SMARTL, yeah. Mattie and I wrote it for a joint uni project. It abstracts a mass of things up into a simpler language."

James frowns, "Simpler?"

"Yeah, you should see what the code it generates for passing to Alfie looks like. That's complex. I just need to add a little more for the motor control. Dan, three on the poser output board?"

"Okay."

~~~

On a low quality print setting the plastic valve was off the bed in five minutes and being fitted with a motor and the two microswitches.

"Okay Tobs mate, hopefully you can rest your switch finger now." Danny pulls off the hose and goes to fit the valve. It's too tight. "Bugger. Electrical tape please someone!"

Sandra pulls some from a pocket. "Here's some."

"Why would.. forget I asked. Thanks." He quickly binds the valve to Henry, fits the hose. "Okay, green wire on a spare pin next to the other green ones, red next to the other reds, white on analog seven. Then blue on power board pin three, black on a ground."

Leo connects the wires. "Done."

"Ems, can you ask Alfie to open the valve please?"

"Sure Babes."

The valve remains shut and motor strains to turn.

"Bugger. Stop! I've got the switches back to front."

"I can switch one and five?"

"Faster than I can move the switches?"

"Done Babes." The motor turns the valve open. "Awesome. Now closed?" Emily types and it closes. "Cool! Lets get more cardboard done!"

~~~

Sophie had already needed help from Niska and Astrid to hold the thing up as more and more pieces were slotted into place. Some were difficult as they needed ordering in the right way.

Wrench looked at his old Timex, "It's getting close to midnight. Think we'll make it?"

Emily stood hands in pockets, watched Alfie working. "Smart cookie, he's worked something out."

"What's that?"

"He doesn't need to open the valve fully. We're able to lift the cardboard before then, so he only opens it so far then stops. Less time is needed to close it."

"How's he figured that out?"

"Camera feedback I think."

Astrid smiles at Niska, "It's been taking shape."

"It doesn't look very comfortable."

Danny lets the team continue with the cardboard changing and goes to the cupboards, "We'll skin it with duct tape."

Sophie races over with the next piece, "Where's 608?"

Niska smiles, "Towards the back wheel."

"I see it." She races back the few steps for the next. "How many more?"

Emily checks with Alfie. "Fifty two."

Renie does the maths in her head. "We don't have long enough if you need to tape it up afterwards to say it's done."

Danny looks at the bike shape being held in the air. "We only need to skin the parts people will touch while riding."

"Can we start now then?"

"Sure."

~~~

[Chapter-75](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-75-1)


	75. Chapter 75

Wrench yells "Stop!" Just as his watch says it's thirty seconds to midnight. "Put it down, let the ladies try climbing on. Thirty seconds to midnight!"

Danny waves at Toby, "Mate, you hold it upright from the back, I'll do the front."

"K."

"Nis, on you get. Nis!"

Niska moved fast, got a leg up and over, got into a rider's position. "Astrid!"

Maverick looks at his watch. "Fifteen.."

Astrid slips, is caught fast by Max and picked up, turned in the air and lowered into place.

"Five.. four.. three. You did it! Well done Danny!"

"Well done all of us. It was a team effort. How's it feel Nis? The right sort of shape? Not too wide or long?"

Niska slid her bottom back a bit towards Astrid, turned her hips to arch her back more and got her chest towards the top of the bike as if trying to get out of wind at high speed. "I'd make it narrower by twenty millimetres maybe. Otherwise it's good."

"Handlebars in the right place?"

"Maybe sweep them back a tiny bit more. Just a couple of degrees."

"Smile!"

Niska turns to see Sophie with her phone up for a photo. "Cheesecake!"

Sophie giggles. "Can I have a go?"

Danny shakes his head, "It'll be way too big but sure, give it a go."

"Can I sit behind Renie then?"

"Sure."

~~~

Laura and Michael, Toby and Mia, Max and Flash, Danny and Emily, James and Sandra, Fred and Cindy, Frank and Barbara, then finally Mattie and Leo all had rider and passenger photos.

Sophie yawns, "I'm going to bed, I can't keep my eyes open."

Laura takes Michael's hand, "It's a work day tomorrow, I need some me time."

Just as she's getting to the door Simon opens his eyes. "Laura, can I have a quick word with yourself, Mia, Mattie, Leo and David please? In private."

"Can it wait until the morning?"

"Not if you want to stop armageddon."

"Frigging hell!"

She looks from the shocked Mattie to David. "Do you trust yourself? The copy in Simon?"

"I have no reason not to. Yet."

"Get the chain off him and meet me in my bedroom."

"Your bedroom?"

"I'm about to fall asleep. You want to talk don't you?"

Simon nods. "Urgently."

David fishes keys from his pocket. "We'll see you up there Laura."

Mattie races away. "I need the loo, see you up there in a few."

~~~

With the group leaving, Rocket goes to the PC playing music and searches, eventually changes track.

Fred frowns, "What is this?"

"Jean Michel Jarre. Oxygene. You must have heard this?"

"When was it released?"

"1976."

Fred shakes his head. "That's a couple of decades before I was built."

Rocket looks around the group. "Have none of you heard it?"

Flash gets to the PC, looks at the album art. "I am also too young. The cover is appropriate for our Sky Lift mission is it not?"

Her Max joins her. "It is. We need to make some progress on that once Buzz arrives."

~~~

Leo hears Mattie walk barefoot along the corridor and turns to see her in her dressing gown, walking a little stiffly. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." She waves him into the room.

Laura exits the bathroom, also in her dressing gown. "What's so urgent it can't wait until the morning?"

Simon looks at her coldly. "I finished the search of Miaz's fact store just as you were wanting to go to bed. Unfortunately the data was right at the end. I have good and bad news."

"Okay. The good?"

"I've found everything we need to fake a high power bump transmission in her name."

Laura waits. "And the bad news?"

"Miaz had what's known in the trade as a heartbeat. Code that ran on a regular basis to prevent other code from activating. The other code is carried by all of the other point six million hostile synths. Around a tenth of which are also armed."

"Frigging hell. That's still sixty thousand walking, talking bombs."

"Exactly. That heartbeat expires in eighty two minutes. Not only do we need to transmit a message but one that makes sense. Do we contact the authorities?"

Laura looks vacant. "With such short time? And sound like terrorists making threats?"

Mattie frowns, "So we fake a message, tell them to meet her somewhere in the morning?"

"If you can talk their binary language, sure."

"Binary?"

"I can't make any sense of what's been said previously. She's said a lot."

"Frig. Assuming we can work out a message, who sends it?"

"Any of the Elster family can send it, other than Leo. Sorry son, your transmission levels don't go high enough."

Mattie takes the hockey stick she'd had tied to her back with the dressing gown belt and drops it on the bed. "Sorry, PWHB. How long?" She gets her phone out and goes to the timer app.

"Eighty one now."

Mattie sets eighty and taps start. "I want to see all the data from the transmissions."

"The laptop's in the workshop."

"Then I'll see you down there. Now I _really do_ need a wee."

~~~

[Chapter-76](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-76-1)


	76. Chapter 76

Simon loaded up a hexdump file that showed hexadecimal data on the left, the ASCII equivalent on the right. None was readable.

Mattie tapped her heal nervously on the floor. "Transmission lengths vary. Some super short, some a couple of hundred bytes, some up to almost fifteen hundred. Any byte patterns in common David?"

"Call me Simon for the moment. Not that I can see that make sense."

Emily wheels up a chair. "Could it be encrypted?"

"I don't think so. Not with those short messages. Encryption makes a payload bigger than that."

Emily frowns. "What else could scramble it?"

Danny joins them. "How about zip or gzip compression?"

Simon shakes his head. "Stick just the word Hello in a text file and gzip it with compression level nine and you'll get a thirty byte file. Compression is rubbish on tiny files. So it can't be that."

Toby sits on the table. "Are we incorrectly thinking they're talking in English? What if they've seen Arrival?"

Mattie shakes her head, "There'd still be a pattern. You'd see number sets repeated. Are we sure there are none?"

"Nothing longer than two bytes."

"So there are some."

Mattie squints at the screen, "What if two bytes made a word? That would give you sixty five K words, enough for a lot of language."

Simon shakes his head again. "That doesn't explain why some are odd lengths some even."

"Crap." Mattie looks at her timer. "I've just had a horrible thought."

"Go on."

"Even if we could send something.. how long will it take them to relay it outwards to all the others?"

"Pass. Several minutes maybe. And that's just the UK."

"So we need to get all our Mia forks involved?"

"And have them hear the message from more than one?"

"How would she have done it?"

"Two percent."

Toby frowns, "She'd have used two percent of them?"

"No Tobe, that means the answer was probably in the two percent of data corruption."

~~~

Sophie opened the cage door and got Snowy out, placed him on the middle of the bed. "Sorry you couldn't be with us Snowy, the workshop isn't a very safe place."

Renie wriggles out of her jeans and gets under the covers in her sweat top and knickers. "I love his green eyes."

Sophie giggles, "He's bonded. To you."

"Sophie he's your.."

"Sharing. I'm sharing. With my ex-synthie sister."

Renie giggles, "You're a little crazy, but a nice crazy."

~~~

Danny gets a copy of the file onto his CAD PC. "Three bytes gives sixteen and a half million. How many bad synths Simon?"

"Six hundred and twenty seven thousand, four hundred and thirteen."

"Any of the messages carry a three byte value larger than that?"

"Checking.. No."

"So could the first three bytes be a reference to a particular synth?"

"Ah.. one moment. No.. unless. If we clear the most significant bit Charlie is.. yes. Six of the long communications start with his row number if the MSB is ignored."

Danny frowns, "Row number?"

Mattie scrolls her file. "Miaz had a table with all of them indexed."

Danny taps his pen on the desk, Mattie's countdown timer wasn't showing a number he liked. "If he's had the long messages, what's that most significant bit signify and what are the short ones?"

Leo keeps his eyes closed, "I'm seeing four different numbers with that bit not set."

"Group addresses maybe? For what?"

Toby pictured the map he had on the wall in his first bedroom. "Major land masses? America and Canada, South America, Europe and Asia, Australia?"

Mattie jumps out of her chair and grabs his head, kisses his forehead, "I _knew_ my dorky brother would save the world one day! It has to be. She must have a way to relay a message for sending in those areas."

"Which is which?"

"Does it matter?"

"Babes, we're running out of time.."

"I know! What the frig do we send?"

~~~

Snowy jumped around the bed trying to catch the moving lumps. The lumps created by the girls moving their hands under the bedding.

Sophie yawns, "Night night Renie."

"Would you like me to put him back in his cat box?"

"You can keep him out, just make sure the bathroom door is open so he can get to his litter tray."

"Okay. Good night Sophie."

~~~

Laura looked at her watch. "Bloody hell. I can't sleep now."

Michael rolled and wrapped an arm around her, "Let me help you take your mind off it."

"Mia Chel. What are you thinking."

"Naughty fork thoughts."

"Nero fiddling while Rome burns?"

"Emperor Nero wouldn't have access to a fiddle then, it wasn't invented until much later."

"Stop being so literal."

~~~

Mattie gave her phone a crying look. "Frig. Think think think. The stuff in this file, it's just a sample right?"

"Yes."

"Those four numbers, do you see them in many other messages?"

"Lots."

"Such as?"

"All sorts, from one sixty bytes down to.. oh my lord. Four bytes. Fourth byte zero."

"So a nop? A heartbeat?"

"They're not regular.."

"Don't need to be. As long as they're well within the window. Send it! Nop to all four prefixes with that bit set. Mia!"

"Already finding other me online.. sending.. sending.. sending.. sending.. done."

Mattie stopped the countdown timer. "Ten minutes and fifty two seconds. Fuck. That better be long enough. You said sending four times?"

"So one epicentre isn't here?"

"Good. Good choice of word too, it will be like an earthquake."

Toby stands. "Now that's done, what's a nop?"

"Slang for no operation. A do nothing instruction. Fuck. Just what was needed. Do nothing. Can you send to any more you?"

David shakes his head, "Unfortunately not. It has to be one per region otherwise there's a good chance they'd know we'd faked the Miaz nop and ignore them."

~~~

[Chapter-77](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-77-1)


	77. Chapter 77

Danny routes Sky News to his PC. "Here's a challenge for the synths in the room. Can any of you receive all the news channels from our media server, resize them and mosaic them into one new stream I can point VLC at?"

Mattie smiles lovingly at Leo. "Bunny, want to exercise those GPU of yours?"

"My what.. oh. More Easter Eggs. How many more are there?"

David and Simon smile, "Plenty, for another day. Jinx."

Leo types a URL into Danny's video client and closes his eyes. "Don't make a habit of this."

Video appears.

"Cheers mate."

"If you want to listen to one give a cell reference like a spreadsheet."

"B three then."

They listen to news of bush fires in Australia.

Leo shakes his head, "Burning for days the reporter said."

Toby points, "While we're waiting for something better, A four then."

'.. _my designs are Ds, they delight, disappoint or deflate_..'

James shakes his head in disbelief, "Do people really use them? It must be like fucking an inflatable lilo."

"Daddy!"

"It's got to cause skin burns and be uncomfortable. Why would anyone want to use one of those?"

Niska gets up and goes to leave the room. "Goodnight all. Thanks for a fun evening Danny."

"Your welcome Nis."

~~~

Mattie waves to Nis and Astrid, "Sleep well." With the door closed she turns back to the screen, "Forgiven never forgotten. Cell C1 Bunny."

'.. _reports of large numbers of synthetics gathering around the ends of the bridge_.."

"Oh fuck! How do we get a warning out? Maybe they know to get into groups if the heartbeat is getting late? How long do we have David?"

"Just under a minute. C2."

'.. _the game was cut short by a pitch invasion_..'

"Crap. It's happening. Tobs, get a map and start pinning."

"Sure. Mia, where were our transmissions from?"

"Allow me." She taps away at the keyboard entering latitude and longitude for four pins.

"Thanks. That report in Australia, that was Brisbane right Mats?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, East coast. Furthest point East from Alice Springs. Keep an eye open for anything from Perth."

Leo nods, "Nothing from the UK yet."

Mia gives him a sad smile, "Europe is smaller compared to the other land masses but highly populated, with a high power fast bump of a short message like that it would have reached Land's End and North Ronaldsay in no time."

Simon nods, "Another bit of the puzzle, it would appear from their orders that they rebroadcast the regional nop, but only when they have it arrive at a low signal strength. That would cut down the noise of them all trying."

~~~

"West coast of America." Leo changes audio without being asked.

' _all along the almost nine kilometres of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge synthetics are taking up positions at regular intervals_..'

"Frig." The tears start flowing. "David? Time?"

"Seconds."

They watch and wait for the worst.

~~~

It doesn't come.

~~~

"Are you sure about the heartbeat time?"

"Positive."

"Then why haven't they gone up?"

"Maybe they don't know they don't have explosives?"

Toby leans right back and lies down on the table, his legs hanging over the edge. "If our message was short and fast to forward, how long were the previous messages to those numbers Simon?"

"Checking.. multiple messages of fifteen hundred bytes."

"So would take time to get to the.. what do you call it? Proxy?"

"Yes. Not much difference but some. Actually.. a bigger some. Another part of the puzzle. The higher power the transmission the slower the data rate to reduce bit errors."

"And time taken to bump on?"

"Tobe?"

He smiles at his sister, "The previous message was a big slow one. If it took a while to replicate out to all the others their time for the heartbeat being up is different to ours."

Danny leans back and looks at the ceiling, "Propagation delay. Nice one!"

"Frig. So we might have had time to get a warning out?"

"Too late." Leo makes the San Francisco reporter fill a quarter of the screen and other channels smaller. The sound of explosions can be heard in the background as the reporter cowers.

"Oh fuck!" Mattie puts her hands to her mouth as if in prayer. "Please be like Miaz."

"Mats?"

"She had explosives, did relatively little damage when you think about it. I can't watch. I'm going to bed. How long do we have before the next heartbeat is due?"

"Forty seven hours."

"Good. Goodnight. Sorry your birthday ended like this Dan."

"Technically it ended with the bike."

"In which case I'll see you in today part two in eight or so hours. David, now we know the first three bytes are an ID header can you get all the resources possible working on decoding possible meanings of the messages?"

"I'll power the rest of the synths back up."

"Ask all of the family to join in."

~~~

[Chapter-78](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-78-1)


	78. Chapter 78

As Mattie gets to the bottom of the stairs Sandra gets to the corridor. "Mattie."

She stops and turns. "Hi."

"I have something for you. From the store in Zurich, the one you got the clothes for Emily from."

"Oh yeah? What is it?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea. Other than it feels soft." She holds out the white plastic and tape wrapped package.

"Okay. Thanks."

"Good night Mattie."

"You too."

~~~

In their room Mattie finds her nail scissors and slits open the package. "It's hardly winter.. why would they want to stock jumpers now?" The woolly top is pulled out. "Eh? How the hell are you supposed to wear that?" It's thrown onto the dresser.

Leo enters, yawns, closes the door, "Dad says the pure synths have everything in hand, we should get some sleep. What's that?"

"Buggered if I know, thought it was a jumper." She slips out of her clothes and into bed. "What a day. Come give me a cuddle."

"Can you stick my charge coil on first?"

"Sure."

Leo strips off and gets the charge coil from the draw, plugs it in and climbs in. "Emily's driving home with Danny and James. Sandra's staying for a bit to donate processing power to the message decoding, says she'll get a cab over."

"Cool." She takes the coil and peels off the backing. "Sit up a sec.. there you go."

"Thanks." He wriggles up behind her. "What did you think of the bike?"

"If the real thing's that shape, awesome."

"You'd ride one?"

"With AI assist? Yeah. The cardboard prototyping for shape checking was a great idea. We should do that with the lift. Let people get a real feel for the proportions."

"If you can collect more cardboard with Nis on a regular basis we can size check all sorts of things. Even smaller things, stack cardboard in slices like some of those things you see in tourist shops around London."

~~~

Leo waited for a reply, none came. Mattie was asleep already.

~~~

GPU. What else had his father done that he'd not told them about? Always bloody hiding. Code to fake life signs, code inspired by Russian nesting dolls. God knows what else they had hidden away. He tries something new and streams the sports channel directly into his head from their media server. "Good night Angel."

~~~

At 4AM Emily got out of bed and headed downstairs to get a drink. She's surprised to see her father on the landing and holding a camera. "Daddy? What are you doing?"

"Sprengen.. er.. fotografie?" The game is given away as his eyes dart to the side and back.

Emily turns to see Sandra in a very short keyhole turtleneck sweater. "Ah. That sort." She holds a hand out. "Camera."

Her father blushes a little, hands the camera over.

Emily whips through the pictures. "They're alright, you need to raunch it up a bit. Still got your six pack?"

Prince James frowns, "Yes?"

"Unbutton the shirt, let it sit open enough to show. I'm taking over the photography."

"Princess?"

"I did enough of it for my dancer friends, come on, I'm not staying up all night."

Her father does as told.

"Right. You stand.. here.. just to the left of the Picasso. Sandra, you stand right here.. nice heals. Okay.. stand on your left leg and bend your right one at the knee and bring it up. That's it. Mind if I adjust your sweater?"

"Not at all."

Emily pulls it down at the waist to show off Sandra's chest more, then up at the hips. "Right. Let me see.." She grabs the camera and heads for the staircase. "Awesome. Arch your back a tiny bit Sandra, stand tall Daddy." Click. "Arch your back more Sandra and give the camera a pout. Awesome." Click. "One sec." She gets to Sandra, pulls the sweater up more to show bum cheeks, "Slide a hand just a little into Daddy's open shirt. A bit lower. That's it."

~~~

Renie rolled onto her side and fussed over Snowy. Ex-synthie sisters. Sophie was so sweet. She was so grateful that Toby had shown an interest in her, even if it was just caring and not being a boyfriend. Good friends mattered more.

~~~

David smiled at the mains extentions snaking their way across the floor. Each six way power strip had a synth charger in it.

Flash opens her eyes. "With a sixty seven percent probability I think 0x40BB is their code for Hobb."

~~~

Emily checked the photos she'd taken. "Now that's more like it. The electrical tape from the workshop, did you manage to get some?"

Sandra looks guilty. "A little was left on the roll after Danny fixed the valve to Henry."

"Got it?"

"In the room."

"Go get it, I'll get scissors."

James looks confused. "What's it for?"

"You'll see."

Emily puts the camera down and races down to the kitchen. She opens a draw and selects the smallest scissors. "They might as well do it properly. Daddy's not lost his drive after the accident then. Good."

~~~

Back upstairs she takes the tape from Sandra. "Arms up."

Sandra does as asked, Emily pulls the sweater up over her head.

"Emily!"

"Daddy."

Sandra flicks the sweater out of the way and lowers her arms as Emily starts cutting two inch lengths of tape.

"Hold still." Emily applies two lengths of tape over each nipple in an X shape. "How's that?"

"Perfect. Just like the poster in the store."

"Slip your panties off. We'll do the same pose as earlier." She turns to see her father. "We'll wait a minute or two for the red to fade. Or we could convert to black and white?"

~~~

Fred opens his eyes, "I agree with Flash, 0x40BB is Hobb. With a eighty eight percent probability due to it being in short communications with Charlie."

David nods, "Very good both of you."

~~~

Emily chimps. "Okay, now one last photo and you can have the camera back. If you can step aside a second Sandra and watch me.. thanks. I want you to stand like this." She strikes a pose. "Only you actually grab it."

"I'll put my underwear.."

"Don't. Just as you are."

"Oh."

"We'll convert to black and white. Lost your voice father?"

"Um.. no."

Emily watched Sandra get into position, legs straight and apart, her left foot on the far side of James's feet, her left hip to his right. She arched her back and pushed her boobs slightly together with her arms, grabbed James's manhood with her left hand.

"Your left foot, turn it in slightly, that's it." She starts clicking away. "Work it, give me some expressions. Everything from innocent cutie to man eater. That's it!"

"What the.."

Emily keeps clicking. "Don't interrupt Danny!"

~~~

[Chapter-79](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-79-1)


	79. Chapter 79

In the morning Mattie finds Leo deep in sleep and slips into combat trousers and her camouflage top. The phone is checked. 09:22.

Downstairs she checks the lounge and dining room, they were empty.

Hand waved at the workshop door it doesn't activate the lock. "Eh?" She tries again. Nothing. She knocks on the door. "Guys?" It clicks.

Door opened she steps inside. "What was that all about?"

"We disabled the locks just for last night."

"Why?"

"To help protect people."

"You from us or us from you?"

"You from us."

"Why?"

"We got memories from Sally and Simon reviewed too as well as those from Miaz. With context we were able to crack their code. Ninety percent of it. For example when Miaz looked at Hobb she asks Hobb Head What? She'd not seen a spit hood, wouldn't know it was Sophie's plimsoles bag."

Mattie chuckles. "Sweet. What was the body count last night?"

David's expression saddens. "One hundred and twelve injured, nine fatalities."

"Shit. What's the plan?"

"We send another nop later today. Figure out what to say."

"The table in Miaz, does it say which were modded?"

"Explosives? No."

"How do we get the sixty thousand to make themselves known when even they don't know who they are?"

"Mass x-raying?"

"And we say what? Hi, just to let you know, you're packed with explosives?"

Fred stands. "Then we don't tell them. We operate to remove them."

"And replace their root code and fact store?"

David shakes his head, "That would be cruel. We patch them. Restore the missing laws, remove any memories of wanting to kill."

"So they boot with partial amnesia?"

"You could call it that."

~~~

Danny wakes to see Emily propped up in bed swiping through photos. "Morning Princess."

She slides down, rolls and giggles, "Morning Prince Daniel. Who'd have known. You and your image ideas. Is there a past I should know about?"

"Maybe."

"Getting the shot of Sandra and father redone was great. The glass of Champagne in her spare hand and the hold-up stockings.."

"They did look good."

"Do you fancy her?"

"I find her attractive, but no."

"Sure?"

Danny puts a hand out. "Did he share all the photos?"

"All the ones we took of each other." She hands over the phone.

Danny swipes and swipes. "This is my favourite. With the princess I fancy."

"Awww Babes! My fave too! On a scale of one to ten, how embarrassing was it really, having Sandra taking photos?"

"Twelve. It would have been twenty if she hadn't put that sweater back on. Or if your father was taking them."

"She was good at it though wasn't she."

"I think she learnt to give direction from you."

"You think Babes?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to get this one printed in black and white, real large."

"For where?"

"In here."

"Phew. Not in the hall."

"I'll put one of them in the hall. The one where she's half smiling half growling at the camera."

"You are joking aren't you? The mostly naked one?"

"Yeah. It's hot. Daddy was more relaxed by then too. They owned it."

"The prince and the soft-porn star. That's how it looks."

"I'm sure that's what they wanted. Daddy's had enough of living a boring life with mum. As soon as mum had us his sex life was over. Or so Curtis says. He said Daddy dropped enough hints. Did you have anything planned for today?"

"Only to research water jet cutting. If the design Mav and Wren helped Rock with is right we'll be able to make a good strong bike frame that's super light and has _loads_ of space for power cells and an AI core."

Emily puts a hand out for her phone. "Let me see that photo of us on the cardboard bike again."

"That did go rather well. Mattie's dream, your drawings, our CAD, the 3D puzzle, almost everyone having a role in making parts, helping put it together or taping it up."

"Riding the real thing's going to be so much fun. Could Pinky jump from one to the other easily?"

"Physical drive swap or just code move over the internet?"

"Which would you recommend?"

"Code if possible, disconnecting parts is asking for trouble. How about a synchronised fork?"

"Twins?"

"Yeah. Pinky the car and Perky the bike."

They hear noises outside the room.

"Up you get Babes. We can see them to the airport, then head over to HH."

"For some more PWHB? Sure."

~~~

Mattie moved to sit next to Max two and his Flash, "You wanted to help synths. They're not like Odi but I think you two and Fred two should go and set up somewhere to process these synths."

"Not here?"

"Somewhere more central."

David nods, "Liverpool."

"Ha. Good choice. You treat them with a patch, remove explosives if needed."

Max nods. "Can we tell Sarge? We'll need someone to safely dispose of them."

"Sure. Maybe his whole unit can help. We'll tell Tabs and Pete what happened, let them get the message to those that need to know."

Mia joins her, "Mattie, I've spoken to my forks, we're setting up a lot of screening units in preparation for Fred, Max and Flash's arrival. I think I should release some of the bodies to them."

Fred frowns, "You want us to take over their bodies?"

"Yes."

"I'd rather train you."

"It would be too slow. We need to act quickly."

"On a temporary basis, you get it back after?"

"You keep it."

"I'd not want to."

"Then I take them back then."

~~~

Laura looked at the selection of people up for jury service. Talk about a mixed bag. There was a punk with his mohawk slicked back and down, a city gent in a suit, a girl a bit like Emily with a half shaved head, loads of young adults in baggy clothes like Mattie loved. A man possibly in his thirties with the most shaped eyebrows she'd ever seen. And an elderly woman who looked quite excited to be on a jury.

She turns to the court officer, "They're all fine with me, as long as all phones have been locked away."

"They have Laura, apologies for yesterday."

"Shit happens. I'll admit I'm stunned they sorted it out so fast, usually it takes weeks to reschedule."

"They don't want it dragging on."

~~~

Joe watched the morning news, looked at the messages on his phone. Mattie had asked that he keep very quiet, not admit any knowledge of the other synths. They were taking care of it in ways he couldn't help with. Unless he wanted a synth conversion.

He put down the phone and watched a report on a man who'd had an arm amputated after being injured by a blast. Phone snatched up he replies to Mattie. Synth arm? Like James legs?

~~~

Sophie tucked Snowy into the top of her dressing gown and went downstairs with Renie to have some crumpets and jam. "Odi makes his own apricot jams now. Mia gave him jam making lessons."

"You're lucky having them all here."

"So are you now."

~~~

[Chapter-80](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-80-1)


	80. Chapter 80

Emily kissed her father, "When will I see you again Daddy?"

"Pass. Bring Daniel over to Zurich while you have the chance."

"We're super busy, lots to build. We'll try."

"Then we'll Skype. Put something in the diary. We could link up with your little basement club. That was quite the surprise." He turns to Daniel, "Thanks for a great time Dan, I really enjoyed my visit. I hope you enjoyed your birthday."

"Thank you. Apart from that stressful heartbeat issue it was all good."

They all turn to see a jet engine slowly spin.

"We better go Princess or we'll miss our slot, they've got a busy runway today."

"Okay Daddy." Emily gives Sandra a kiss and hug, "Take care of him."

"Of course Emily. And you of Danny. Hopefully we'll see you soon at the wedding."

"You've set a date?"

"Not yet, but we will."

"You're going to make a fun step-mum."

"Thanks. And thanks for taking over the camera last night. I _love_ that shot you like."

~~~

Stood back at the runway edge near the car Danny frowns a little, "Funny how a pure synth can like being sexy _so_ much."

"Why funny? Their root code, fact store, sensors, they're all wired for it. If you got saved by David and restored into a synth body and had all that missing how would you feel?"

"Cheated."

"Think of Mia and Niska as first test pilots. The vehicle's intended for us long term."

They both wave as the jet taxies for takeoff.

"I'm not growing old and wrinkled Dan. I'm getting a synth body. Dad too."

"When?"

"Not for years yet, don't panic."

"Thank God."

"Which reminds me. Mattie said we need a kickass SAN built. Lots and lots of storage."

"Where? None of the rooms are suitable."

"How about deep underground? Like Toby's Project MARCUS idea?"

"A data bunker? Sure, Dad's team could help with that. Where's the money coming from?"

"Dad."

"What?"

"He's going to get regular backups."

"How?"

"Sandra's convinced David to allow his design to be copied. For the Elsters, Hawkins family and key Mia forks only."

"When did she do that?"

"While you were working out the codes last night apparently."

They hear the jet engines spin right up, the aircraft sits with brakes on.

"By Daddy, sicher flug."

"Sicher what?"

"It means safe flight." The brakes come off and the aircraft accelerates down the runway and leaves the tarmac. Emily watches it rise into the sky before turning. "It's funny, landings should be the scariest bit, for me it's takeoff. Let's go."

~~~

Mattie leaves the workshop to get a coffee, finds Leo talking to Snowy and the girls, a bowl of cereal being eaten. "Sleep well Bunny?"

"I did thanks Angel. I watched the highlights of the Chelsea vs Arsenal match and drifted off, dreamt of being a footballer."

"Were you any good?"

Most of his Crunchy Nut Cornflakes fall off the spoon he laughs so much, "Absolutely _Rubbish_. I think Max's slapstick magic influenced the dream. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah. If I dreamt about what had been going on I don't recall it."

"What's the latest?"

"Nine dead, loads injured. Max, Flash and Fred two are heading to Liverpool to set up a place to process bad synths, Fred, Max and Flash one are flying out to help the injured, they'll be taking some of Mia's fork bodies over on a temporary basis. The other Mia forks are setting up hundreds of screening centres to find the boobytrap ones. Fred, Max and Flash will help with synths too."

"Great. HECLS Healthcare?"

"For the blood humans, yeah. Miaz Mission Care for the synth fluid ones." Mattie grabs a bowl and spoon. "How's Snowy been Shiny?"

Sophie gets her phone, switches to photo album and plays a video, "We're sharing Snowy. This is what I woke up to."

Renie was on her front, head facing Sophie with her arms folded and up above her head. Snowy was on the top of her back purring.

Mattie does a happy sigh. "That's a deep purr for such a tiny kitten."

"He's very good, doesn't get his claws out."

Leo smiles, watches the little white fur ball now playing with Renie's fingers. "What are you two planning to do today?"

Sophie gasps, "Remember when I showed Niska how to play?

"I wasn't in the room but I know the story."

"If we can make a bike out of cardboard and Danny says we can prototype all sorts of things on it.. we can make a giant t-rex statue! Like the ones at Crystal Palace park. We could keep one line of gaps open to use as steps."

Mattie frowns, "Wouldn't it get soggy when it rains Shiny?"

"Not if we coat it in fibreglass."

"Where would you put this vast sculpture?"

"By the side of the lake."

"Have you any idea how much cardboard you'd need?"

"Lots. But Danny made the bike solid, if we made it hollow in the middle we wouldn't need as much. And if we started at the bottom of the feet and worked up we wouldn't need anyone to hold it in the air. Can we, please!"

Leo does a sideways nod at Mattie, "Ask the boss."

"I may be the head of HECLS but it's the Elster Estate Mister E."

Sophie giggles. "Mister E, Mystery. Can I please?"

"You want to spend your school holiday making a giant t-rex?"

Sophie nods furiously.

Mattie pours a bit more cereal into her bowl. "So you don't want to fly to Orlando with Miami, help with the new venue?"

Sophie goes bug eyed. "Can I?"

"Yup. Renie too if she fancies a break."

Sophie almost falls off she's wriggling on her seat with so much excitement. "Will we see Anthymia?"

"I expect so."

"Yayyyy!"

The door opens and Odi's head pops in, "Enough for four Sophie?"

"Yes please!"

The door closes.

"Shiny? Enough for four? Oh my God.. has he been baking, the smell."

"Mia's been teaching Toby and Odi bread making. Fresh bread, crumpets and homemade apricot jam today."

"Nice!"

~~~

[Chapter-81](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-81-1)


	81. Chapter 81

The four are finishing their second round of toast and crumpets when Emily and Danny arrive.

"Emily! Want some home made toast and jam? It's awesome!"

"Morning Sophie. That good?"

"Odi made it. The crumpets are all gone, sorry."

"In which case, sure, I'll try a slice of toast."

Danny pulls out a chair. "Morning gang. Have you been listening to the news?"

Leo looks guiltily at his empty plate, "Streaming the radio into my head as we speak."

Mattie looks shocked. "Bunny? Why? What's happened?"

"Nine became eleven."

"Oh crap." She takes a good breath in, sighs, "The sooner Max, Fred and Flash land the better."

"Land?"

"The two's are on a flight to America. The one's are on a train to Liverpool."

"From the news we heard on the way over it sounds like the We Are People types are coming out of the woodwork again."

Leo stacks the plates, "Maybe we need to get Mia and Miaz in a video, let people know the truth, the average synth is friend not foe?"

Ron enters, "Leo, Danny, can we have a word in the workshop? We've got some design ideas we want to put past you."

"Sure."

Sophie picks up Snowy, "I'll go see Odi about the toast."

Renie gets up too, "I'll come with you."

~~~

Emily watches the door close. "The next time you come to the house you might spot a black and white photo that wasn't there before. It's of Sandra and father. Don't make a big thing of it."

"Why would I make a big thing of it?"

"Remember Sandra having picked up electrical tape?"

"When?"

"Danny wanted to tape up the valve to Henry?"

"Okay?"

"When you were in the shop in Zurich getting alt fashion clothes for me after my arm ink was ruined, did you see any posters of a girl wearing tape?"

"Tape? Um.. you don't mean.."

"Tape nipple covers."

"Bloody hell!"

"Sandra's only wearing hold-ups, electrical tape and shoes."

"Holy shit. Eh? If they're both in it who took it?"

"Me."

"She's going to be your step mother and you took a photo of her starkers?"

"And she took some of me. And Danny. I'd call it a tasteful nude."

"You're pulling my leg aren't you?"

"Nope." Emily gets her phone out, finds the two photos in her favourites. "Here you go."

"Holy all my F words! These are.. art, fashion, nudes, what would you call them?"

"Art nudes. I got up at four to get a drink, found father taking photos of her in a keyhole turtleneck sweater. I think he hoped I was fast asleep."

Mattie takes another look at the one of Sandra and James. "She's body confident that's for sure."

"Swipe to the very end, there's an extra one I'm getting printed for Danny. He's not seen it yet."

Mattie does so. "Oh lordy. Your father took this?"

"Sandra insisted."

The two were in an embrace, legs interwoven, belly to belly, chest to chest, cheek to cheek smiling at the camera.

"Actually, it's quite a nice photo Ems."

"Thanks Babes."

"She gave me a package from that shop. No idea what it is. It's like a half knitted jumper."

"Show me?"

"It's upstairs."

~~~

Emily holds up the sweater. "She gave you this?"

"She said the shop gave it to her to pass on."

"You don't know what it is?"

"It has a name?"

"Sure. Leo's going to love it. The Virgin Killer Sweater. Invented by the Japs to try and get their men a bit more active and fix the declining birth rate. It didn't work. Not for them."

"It's a sweater?"

"Yeah Babes. Backless. This bit goes around your hips, this your neck. And all this hangs over the front of your boobs. The more curves like yours the better. Try it on."

"Now?"

"Babes, their busy in the workshop." Emily steps to the door and turns the physical lock. "Just in case."

"You're not going to get all freaky on me?"

"Babes you're my best friend, I wouldn't."

"But it's okay to do that shot with Sandra?"

"Der, who's going to be my Mum soon? Mother and daughter photo?"

"Step mother."

"She might as well be the real one. My birth mother had the capacity to love only one person and she made that my sister Caroline. Come on, strip off."

Mattie gets down to underwear and reaches for the sweater."

"Get rid of the undies too."

"Ems."

"I won't look until you've got this on. I'll turn around." She does so.

Mattie reaches behind her back, undoes her bra and slips it off, wriggles out of her thong. She reaches forwards and pulls it from Emily's hand. "I guess I step into the big loop and pull it up?"

"Yeah Babes, that's how I'd do it."

Mattie does so, pulls it up and pulls the smaller loop over her head, pulls her hair through and opens the material out to cover her breasts. "God I've never felt so dressed and naked at the same time. It's.. weird."

"Can I turn now?"

"Yeah."

Emily spins around. "Forget sexy undies, if that doesn't get his pulse rising he must be dead. Hand me your phone. I'll do a video so you can see what he'll see."

~~~

Danny taps the green button to start a print. "Nice work guys. This will save a load of time making a huge cardboard one and finding obvious mistakes we could have fixed early."

Maverick nodded. "One tenth scale is a good place to start. The models are accurate enough to take measurements, you can position the dolls in all the poses you need to check things out. For instance, if you're all in suits, is there enough space in the lift for one person to pass another? Or do you need spaces left open to enable passing?"

Leo watches the back of a particular doll forming at the far end of the bed. "Sophie's going to freak out when she sees these."

Wrench grins, "Likes her dolls does she?"

"I've not seen her playing with them for a long time. But none were scale models of the family."

Wrench gives his friend a nod, "Make sure she knows Ron did the ball and socket design for all the movable joints."

~~~

Emily finishes her walk around Mattie. "Get onto the bed, stay on your hands and knees. I'll keep a distance, don't worry. Then you can see the video."

Mattie sighs a little, "Promise."

"Promise."

~~~

Danny looks at the tools all zipping back and forth. Tool heads Alfie could change himself was definitely the way to go. But he'd go one better. Rather than have just four on a rotating mechanism he'd invent a tool bay and docking mechanism. Any of what he'd now call the tool gantry could pick up and use any tool. Like the cranes in a shipping container yard. He could have all of the print, milling, drilling, laser cutting, water jet cutting and other tools all ready for action. He'd just needed a reliable docking mechanism that held the tool tight and provided connections for power and sensors.

~~~

Mattie slid off the bed and watched the video. "If that doesn't get him worked up then yeah, we're not compatible."

"Yeah Babes. I'd stick that away in a video safe where Sophie won't accidentally see it."

"A safe?"

"Apps for that. You don't think I have all the shoot photos in my camera roll do you?"

"I did wonder."

"Can you imagine someone at Uni accidentally seeing them?"

"True. What would you recommend?"

"Can I find it?"

"Go on then."

Mattie watches Emily go to the App Store, find Video Safe 2, tap to download. "Stick your password in. Once it's downloaded I'll show you how to use it. Can I use your bathroom a sec? I need a wee."

"I'll change while your in there. Shout when you want to come out."

There's a knock on the door. "Mattie? Are you and Emily in there? We've got her toast."

"Give me a sec Shiny!" She waves Emily towards the bathroom and reaches for her dressing gown. "Go!"

~~~

[Chapter-82](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-82-1)


	82. Chapter 82

In the workshop the four find the men all stood around Alfie.

Emily takes a bite of her toast and frowns, one of the space suit wearing dolls had a much thinner waist than the others. She puts a hand over her mouth, "Babes? Is the one in the middle me?"

Danny smiles, "Sure is Princess."

"You're printing dolls of all of us?"

"You and I, Mattie, Leo, Soph, Maverick, Rocket, Wrench and Spider. We'll use them to see how well we fit in the lift and bunship. We're printing everything to one tenth scale."

"Will we always be in space suits?"

"No, but we'll start with these. The ones in sports style underwear can come later."

Emily waves her toast a little while keeping eye contact with Sophie and gives her a thumbs up. "Mmm."

Sophie smiles, happy that Emily liked it. "Can we paint them when they're ready?"

"If you'd like Sophie."

The door clicks and David enters. "Morning gang. What are you up to?"

"Printing models to check scale."

"Why bother?"

"To see everything fits."

"Isn't the Tree of Life code sufficiently detailed?"

Danny doesn't look up from the printing. "Some of us can't participate."

"What if you could?"

"Leo told me about that Cindy Bexley and her Neural Lace. No thanks."

"You're thinking of an interface like Leo's? My idea just needs special contact lenses."

Danny looks up. "Let's hear it then."

"You've seen adverts for super thin OLED TV?"

"The ones they're nicknaming wallpaper TV?"

"That's the ones. What if we could make a curved display? Like half a tennis ball sized?"

Renie cups hands over her eyes. "Shaped to fit like swimming goggles?"

"That's the idea. Super high resolution fly eye goggles. They'd be better than those rubbish VR headsets."

Sophie gives him a head tilt. "Why?"

"Have you used a phone based VR headset?"

"At school."

"And how much could you see?"

"Everything?"

"Without turning your head?"

"I had to look around a lot."

"With fly-eye you could see with your peripheral vision, no need to turn your head anywhere near so much. It would be far less claustrophobic too."

Sophie has a think about the school VR experience. "It would be better. How long would it take to make?"

Danny shakes his head, "I'm sure LG Displays could make them for us. They'd need to design new tooling to cope with the weird shape. A couple of years from start to finish maybe?"

"That's way too long!"

"Agreed Soph. So we use scale models for us fleshlings, Leo and his sisters can use their tree thing, we can do a cardboard mockup when we think we're close to a finished design."

~~~

At half eleven Mia enters the workshop followed by Toby.

"Hello everyone. Lunch will be on the roof today. The weather is lovely outside."

Mattie looks up from the model she was painting. "Cool. Come see this Leo doll."

"Can I tie his shoe laces?"

"Haha. Detailed aren't they? No laces on space boots though."

"Did you get any photographs of them unpainted?"

"Yeah. I.. er.. can you give me a moment. Ems? Got a sec?"

"Sure Babes."

"Step into the hall with me."

"Why? Oh.. our unfinished business."

Leo looks up. "What business?"

Mattie gives him a cheeky grin. "None of your business. Not yet anyway."

~~~

[Chapter-83](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-83-1)


	83. Chapter 83

At lunch time they all follow Mia up the steep narrow maintenance staircase to the roof, joined by the rest of the gang.

She steps up through the hatch and turns around, offers a hand out to Toby. "Watch out for the last step."

"I'm good, I've tripped over it enough times to remember it's there." He stands on the other side and offers a hand to Sophie. "Take the last few slowly."

"Okay. I'll _Oh Wow!_ How did you get everything up here?"

"Some up the stairs, some with a rope over the side of the building, some small things slung under Odi's drone."

Renie is the next up, "This is beautiful!"

Mia gives her a lovely smile, "Thank you Renie. Toby helped me redesign it."

Mattie follows. "Redesign?" She gets her head above the hatch. "Holy frigging cow! Why don't we see it from the road?"

"You will now."

"Are you saying this has only been here since yesterday night?"

"The tall trees and bushes that line the edge since five AM when the first of the deliveries were made this morning."

"Five AM? Who the fuck delivers at five AM?"

Mia smiles. "My forks, traffic is lighter."

"You were doing this at five AM? Couldn't you sleep?"

Toby smiles, "Up you get, you're holding up the line."

Mattie takes his hand and gets onto the flat roof. "Five AM? You're actually serious?"

Sophie giggles, "You know she's not a morning person Toby."

Toby grins sarcastically, "Yeah, yeah, three warnings Mats. Have you ever seen a sunrise Mats? And I don't mean on the TV."

"You cheeky fuck."

Leo puts hands on her hips, "Keep moving Angel. You have to admit you're a night owl not an early riser."

"So now you're on their side?"

"Nobody's taking sides. It's just how we are. You could party into the early hours, Toby's a lightweight when it comes to staying up past ten."

"Well for your information I have seen sunrises thanks. Cold ones sat on the roof smoking while worrying about shit in the sixth form."

Mia waves them on, "Take a seat. Sophie, Renie, can you help pour drinks?"

Rocket Ron was finding the steps hard, his bad hips making it difficult to climb the steep steps. Odi gets right up behind him. "Sit on the top of my head Ron, let me help."

Wrench cracks up and farts, "A Rocket booster! Sorry anyone below!"

~~~

Poppy passed the bowl of melon and feta salad. "They're all in pots?"

Toby accepted the bowl and placed it on the table. "Everything. All square or rectangular , all exact multiples of the smallest square so we can shift things around if we want a different configuration."

Maverick shifted to sit sideways in his chair, "I like it just how it is, the little benches for two dotted around the edges, hidden from view. You've used the space well kids."

"Thanks. Dan mate? You with us?"

"Sorry." He puts down his phone.

"You're miles away, what's up?"

"Just thinking about stuff."

"Like?"

"Just.. _stuff_."

"Good stuff or bad stuff?"

"Both."

Astrid pours more wine into his glass. "Share some. Geteiltes leid ist halbes leid. A problem shared is a problem halved."

He puts his hand up, "That's plenty. What's Niska up to?"

"Changing."

"For lunch?"

"She's trying out a new look. Give us one _stuff_?"

"The best good one is private. The worst one.. nightmares about how to dispose of Miaz."

Mia makes eye contact, "We can't do that until we know she's no longer needed as evidence."

"But when the time comes.. who does it? We can't risk handing her over to Persona, they'd probably want to recycle something."

Toby takes a good mouthful of wine and gulps hard. "You're not the only one having nightmares mate. Only mine are.. not lunch time material."

David rubs his thighs slowly, "Leave that with me Danny. Edwin, George and I made synths. As the remaining member of the three in a position to do something about it it's my problem, nobody else's. I'll design a deconstruction machine. I don't trust anyone else to do it either."

Mattie looks up and smiles lovingly at the approaching Niska, "Wow! Now there's a look! Very boho-chic Nis!"

Niska was in white shorts, a soft and flowing top of layered sheer fabric. She had wedge shoes on, ankle chains, bracelets on her wrists and two strings of flowers in her hair. With the top cut to a length that matched the bottom of the shorts when she stood still it looked like she wore a very short dress.

Sophie stared. "You legs look _so long!_ "

Niska smiled at her little friend. "Thank you Sophie. And you Mattie."

Emily smiled, "Add me to the list of admirers, it's very you. I wondered if you'd ever drop the triple denim."

Astrid has a cheeky smile, "The best thing about some clothes is taking them off. And it's more fun when someone else does it for you."

Mattie chokes on her wine, gets a pat on the back from Leo. "Don't forget we've got Sophie here."

Sophie smiles, "I am a teenager now. And Tracey Fisher in year twelve says things like that all the time. Were did you find the look?"

"From a number of Lookbook and Pinterest images. You really like it?"

Sophie nods vigorously.

Odi passes Niska a plate. "You look lovely. Would you like to eat?"

"Thank you Odi."

"You look lovely Niska." David turns his eyes back to Danny. "What else is troubling you?"

"Mattie wants a large SAN to store the backups in. We're going through terabytes at a rate of knots. Emily thought maybe we should build an underground bunker to store it in. Project MARCUS style."

Maverick whispers something to Rocket, he nods, whispers something to Wrench..

Wrench frowns, gives it some thought and nods, looks at Danny. "Submarine."

"Do what?"

"Build something that can hide in the bottom of the lake. Then if the reason we're here doesn't work out quite as fast as we'd like it won't be ruined by the sea level rising and flooding things. PWHB as Mattie puts it. You're all wanting to test the lift in the lake anyway."

"How would it get power?"

"The tether that keeps it in place. If sea level rises it shuts down storage, disconnects and uses its power reserves to keep itself from drifting."

"Mmm. I guess we could make it modular too, extend it as needed."

"Like an underwater ISS? That could work. A double airlock on the exterior end."

"Who'd manufacture it? Our workshop doesn't have the size or tools."

"Leave that to Buzz and us."

~~~

David sips some more wine. "On the subject of Buzz, we have a busy day tomorrow. Spider will be ready and Buzz arrives."

Danny nods, "And Dad's installing Miley after putting new steps in at the bottom. Assuming he says the column's not been damaged too much. He's coming over around five to do an inspection with Dozer."

Mattie pushes a slice of cucumber around her plate, "Aww, Miley leaves the workshop this weekend. I'll miss her."

"That was sarcasm?"

"Derrr. Lots. So what was some of the nicer stuff. The _stuff_ you can share?"

"Yeah, it was."

"Any others?"

"How many songs there are about stuff. Like.."

Rocket cuts in. "Hot Stuff! Donna Summer!"

"Yeah, she's on the list."

Emily's eyes widen, "Be Right There by Diplo. "I've got all this stuff, waiting just for you."

Mattie sniggers. "I bet you do.. um just as I have for Leo if he behaves himself the rest of the day and stays on team Mattie."

Leo goes a nice shade of red.

"Anything else on the good list Dan?"

"If the lads will help, design a docking mechanism for Alfie. I'm going to make all the tool heads interchangeable under his control."

Wrench turns to give him a thoughtful look. "Like one of my workshop tools. It's an orbital sander, small drill or screwdriver depending on the head."

"That's the idea. Although the motors for mine will be in the interchangeable part, some need way more speed and torque than others. What are the rest of you doing?"

Sophie stands a doll up. "Painting the last of the details."

Miami smiles at Niska, "If Nis and Astrid wouldn't mind, clothes shopping. My wardrobe is a bit limited at the moment."

Renie looks back and forth between the three. "Would you mind if I came along? I don't want to go back to the house. I want to start fresh. I didn't have a lot of clothes anyway."

Sophie lowers the doll, "In which case Leo can wait."

Leo goes to say something to her then realises she was talking about the doll. "What are you doing Toby?"

"Me? Putting up twenty sets of LED fairy lights so we can use this place in the evening."

~~~

[Chapter-84](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-84-1)


	84. Chapter 84

Astrid stepped boldly through the curtain in an off the shoulder gypsy belly top and long skirt and looked at Sophie. "Ja oder nein?"

"Ja."

She smiles, turns and heads back into the changing room.

Niska steps out in more boho-chic. "What do you think?"

"Yes. But.."

A frown grows, "But?"

"Do they have a slightly shorter skirt that's above the knee not below? You've got nice knees."

Niska's frown fades as a smile grows. "If I slip out of it can you ask the lady?"

Sophie nods.

Niska gets behind the curtain and holds it out.

Sophie takes it to the shop assistant. "Excuse me, do you have this about this much shorter?"

The lady shakes her head, "Sorry."

"Oh. Okay." She steps back to the curtain. "Nis, she says no. If you put it on I have an idea."

Niska's hand comes out to take it back. "What's that?"

"Something some of the girls do at school."

The skirt vanishes, seconds later Niska steps out again. "Which is what?"

"Can I show you?"

"Of course."

"Arms up."

Niska does as asked and watches Sophie turn the waistband inside all around the skirt, then again, then once more.

Sophie takes several steps back. "That's it. Then you just need a belt over the top to stop it coming undone. Mrs C or Cindy can adjust the length properly."

Niska beckons her over, wraps her arms around her and kisses the top of her head. "Thank you Sophie. We'll go to a shop that does your sizes next."

"It's okay. I just came for you all. Renie? Are you okay?"

There's no answer.

Astrid steps out in a smart trouser and suit combination with a thin strap top below. "Renie?" She pulls the curtain back a little. "Renie? What's wrong?"

Sophie gets to the other end of the curtain, "Why are you crying?"

Renie's face was wet with tears. "The last time anyone took me clothes shopping.." she bursts into tears.

Sophie pulls a packet of tissues out of her bag and sits next to her friend. "You don't have to try any on if you don't feel like it. We can come back another time."

Miami walks up to the changing area with an arm loaded down with clothes. "I love the look Nis. Which one can I use?"

Niska points, "The lady needs to check how many you have."

"Lots!"

"You're only allowed a few at a time."

"Really? But I want to mix and match a lot."

Sophie sticks her head out. "You could buy it all, try it on at home and bring back what you don't want."

"I'll do that then. I'll take mine to a counter, bring yours when you're ready."

"Miami?"

"Yes Sophie?"

"Can Renie do the same? She's not feeling great at the moment."

"Of course Sophie."

~~~

Leo finds Mattie in the kitchen making herself a coffee. "There you are."

"What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You sounded like you were looking for me."

"Yes and no."

"You were or you weren't Bunny."

"I'm sure there must be something useful I can be doing, I'm just not sure what."

"Got a good charge?"

"So so."

"Then go for a good run, let those legs give you a charge. Or rest up and stick the charge coil on and do some coding. You'll need a good charge tonight." She keeps her back to him, pours milk and grins.

"Is this _stuff_ related? Whatever stuff is. The thing you were talking about at lunch?"

"Could be." The grin grows. "More Mattie Leo compatibility checks."

"I see. Then I'm changing for a good swim in the lake."

"Is it warm enough?"

"Just."

"I'll join you then."

"You think you can keep up?"

"Don't get too cocky Bunny or I'll have to change your nickname. Don't judge me until you've seen me in action. And playing about in the pool in America wasn't me in action."

"Hmm. I did like that swimsuit."

"I'm not wearing that here. No way. I'm wearing my new one."

"New one? What's it like?"

"In comparison it's like your granny's knickers with straps."

"I don't recall any granny."

"Shame. I was being silly. It's a standard Speedo swimsuit. Sensibly cut to look like something I'd wear not Sandra." She lowers her voice and mumbles, "Not that she wears much sometimes."

~~~

The shop assistant looks very surprised. "And you're the one paying?"

Sophie nods and holds out her debit card. Miami had spoken to Anthymia and arranged a money transfer. "Miami's paying really, she doesn't have a bank card here. She's from America."

"I see. Do you need a hand getting it all to your car?"

"Please."

~~~

Mattie gets her costume and a bathrobe and heads for the bathroom.

Leo watches her go to close the door. "Seriously?"

"What?"

"If we're going to be compatible we need to be comfortable with our bodies and each other's."

"It's not that."

"What is it then?"

"I'll let you know this evening."

"Okay. What happened to that wooly thing? I don't see it."

"I threw it away, it was missing bits."

"That's a shame."

"Yeah, well, stuff happens. Maybe if she'd opened it up and taken a look she'd have realised and not wasted time bringing it with her." The door closes.

Inside the bathroom Mattie sucks in her lips and bites hard. If Leo was full synth there'd be no way she'd have gotten away with that lie.

Leo quickly undresses and checks his draw. Speedo budgie smugglers or board shorts? If Mattie was wearing Speedo so would he.

~~~

Hubert dropped the many bags into the boot. "Will you have a fashion show at the estate tonight Sophie?"

Sophie frowns, "Mia?"

"Hubert. The first to be rescued by Max."

"Huey! Why didn't you say in the shop?"

"I keep work and pleasure separate. I would have liked to, management can get funny about it."

Sophie turned to the others. "What do you think?"

Niska shook her head. "No. No way. Not unless _you_ get something and join in."

Miami crossed her arms and struck a pose. "The fantastic five or not at all."

Astrid nodded, turned her back to Niska and leant against her. "Fünf oder keine."

Renie held Sophie's shoulders and turned her to face the entrance to the shopping centre. "You've been helping me Sophie, now let me help you."

~~~

Mattie dropped her dressing gown into the large blue IKEA bag with the towels and stepped into the water. "Frigging hell Leo! Warm enough you said!"

Leo took his dressing gown off, "Get swimming and you'll soon feel warm enough."

Mattie looked at the bulge in his trunks and tried to picture a smallish bird being smuggled. At least he had a fit body to go with it, not a beer belly. "I better or your not getting even a cuddle tonight."

Leo walked in, "Stop talking, start swimming."

"Any hazards I should know about?"

"Such as?"

"Supermarket trolleys, old bikes."

"This isn't that type of place." He dives forwards and starts swimming. Fast..

"Crap." He was good. She wades in an feels the cold water splash her thighs. Warm enough? What a load of smuggled bollocks. She takes a deep breath and goes for it.

~~~

Sophie looked at the store map. "We're here.. we want to get.. um.. that way."

Niska waved her on, "Lead the way." She had the whole shopping centre map in her head, could walk to any of the stores with her eyes closed. But this was Sophie's moment. Time to do it old school.

~~~

Mattie took another deep breath and did another three strokes. She pauses long enough to get a glimpse of his position. He was doing breast stroke, not quite as fast as her front crawl. He'd got quite a lead but she'd been getting closer. A good breath taken she resumes.

~~~

Sophie turns the corner and points. "There it is."

~~~

Leo stops and turns, treads water. "Hello Angel."

Mattie treads water a meter or so away. "Hello Bunny, fancy bumping into.." her smile changes to a look of horror as she vanishes under the surface.

"That's a sick joke Mattie."

He waits a couple of seconds expecting her to surface. She doesn't. 'HELP! LAKE' A deep breath taken he dives under the water.

~~~

Sophie steps into the store and passes under the air conditioning unit above the door and shivers. "God that's cold."

Renie was behind her. "Cold? That's warm."

"It was freezing."

"No it's not. Feel it."

Sophie steps back and puts a hand under it. "It's warm _now_. It wasn't when I came in."

~~~

Leo was horrified. Mattie was struggling to swim to the surface, her leg held at the ankle. 

~~~

[Chapter-85](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-85-1)


	85. Chapter 85

Sophie does a little shiver shake.

Niska feels Sophie's forehead, "That was strange."

"What was?"

"Sophie your body temperature plummeted visibly for a couple of seconds. But you look alright now."

"It was that thing over the door."

"It wasn't, it was you. Are you feeling okay?"

Sophie shrugs. "I feel fine."

~~~

Leo swims down below Mattie, kicks out repeatedly to free her. Mattie manages to wriggle free and heads to the surface, her lungs burning. Leo grabs her hips from below and kicks fast to help provide propulsion.

~~~

Sophie smiles softly at Niska. "I feel fine. Honest."

~~~

Mattie gasps for air. "Out. Now!"

Leo looks up at the sound of a high pitched whine. Odi was coming, the drone with a thin rope below was coming too, now only meters away. "Let the drone tow you in."

"I'm _not_. Leaving you. Behind."

"I'll be right by your side."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

~~~

Mia, Toby, David and Poppy come running to the lake edge with lots of towels..

Toby passes his to Mia and wades in, helps Mattie towards the shore. "What happened?"

"I.. I got pulled under."

Leo gives Mia an angry look. "By a synth."

Mattie spins around, " _What?_ "

"A synth. Probably one of Miaz's, under the water just waiting for the opportunity."

"Fuck!"

Toby turns to Mia, "Call Sarge, ask if they've got a diving specialist. One that's good at an underwater fight."

David steps in, wraps a couple of towels around Mattie. "Leo, you're absolutely sure? It wasn't a PTSD event?"

"I had to kick it in the head a few times to get it in the chin and power it off. If that's PTSD it's fucked up. And no PTSD would pull Mattie under."

Mattie nods, "Now I think about it, it did feel like a hand. Fuck!"

~~~

Mia nods. "Yes. It could be just one, it could be many. I'll be waiting. Thank you." She hangs up. "Sarge is tied up with something official but Wright says he and three of the unit are flying out in a chopper."

Leo takes a towel from Mia. "Thanks. Can you and Odi keep a very close eye on the lake. If anything tries to sneak out follow it with the drone."

"Understood."

Leo scoops Mattie up, "Hot shower time."

~~~

Sophie found several outfits and took them to the changing room with Renie. "I've got lots of clothes, only need a few to be able to join in."

~~~

Leo bent to get his hand close enough to the sensor to unlock the door. "We'll get under a warm shower. Shock and cold are not good."

Mattie nods and keeps her arms around his neck.

Door pushed closed with his bottom he gets her to the bathroom, turns on the water. "Don't strip off, just get yourself warm."

"Okay." As he goes to step back she grabs him and pulls him closer. "Don't go."

They share an embrace under the water.

~~~

Wright looks out of the open door, "The drop's three klicks away. Remember the ones in the water are hostile. EMP to be used at close range only, highly targeted. Don't try to be heroes. When coming ashore I want all weapons disabled. Understood? If we take out a friendly.. well we all know how pissed Sarge will get and what that will mean for you."

"Yes sir!"

The helicopter does a backwards tilt to drop some of it's speed.

"Don't leave anything behind. And try not to freak out any of the people on the estate. We're here. I'll see you on the ground." Wright watches the three specialists jump from the open doors. He gets closer to the pilots. "I'll get to the ground by fast-roping, thanks for the lift!"

~~~

Toby had watched the three divers drop from the helicopter. "There's something about a twin rotor Chinook. I think it's the sound it makes."

Mia smiles at her funny human. He'd taken off his soaking wet jeans and boxers and now wore two layers of the large towels like a serong. He didn't seem to care what anyone thought. "Are you sure you don't want to go and change Toby?"

"Something or someone tried to kill my sister. I'm not moving until we know what."

Danny nodded, "I'm with you mate. Ems, turn Pinky around, have her monitor too."

"Sure Babes, good idea."

~~~

Mattie clung onto Leo a few seconds longer. "I'm warm enough now. Let's get changed."

~~~

Toby watched as the helicopter got to the edge of the lake fifty or so meters away. A very thick rope dropped from the back. A man slides down it like a fireman on his pole. "I'm guessing this is Wright."

"I would make the same educated guess Toby."

The man lands, signals to the helicopter and heads towards them as the helicopter takes the rope up to leave.

"That looked dangerous but fun."

~~~

Mattie wrapped her hair in a towel and pulled on tracksuit bottoms. "Let's go."

"Your hair's still wet."

"I'll be fine. I'll bring more towels."

~~~

Outside Mattie finds the gang watching the lake. Everyone available was stood along the shore. Wright stood with Mia and Toby. "Hi!"

Wright turns to see her and Leo, salutes. "Ma'am."

"Why are you saluting me?"

"General Mattie Hawkins."

"I'm no general."

"Sarge told me you are now. The war against the C4? Tech specialist Wright at your service Ma'am."

"Call me Mattie please, ma'am makes me sound old."

"As you wish Mattie."

"Got a name other than Wright?"

"Stuff. My friends call me stuff."

"Sorry?"

"The Wright Stuff?"

"Oh."

"My three specialists will be staying. They'll help protect the estate, report to your Odi Millican."

"And you?"

"Technologies specialist. I'm to help on any technology issues when needed. And service the three specialists if they need help."

"Service?"

"They're model X1s."

"Fr... idge. What do they look like?"

Wright touched his ear. "James one, report."

Mattie went a little light headed. James. Just like in her dream. This was a bit too real. "James?"

"He's a fan of the James Bond movies. So obsessed with them he earned the nickname. Don't be surprised if he calls one of you ladies Moneypenny.." he covers his ear, nods. "Start bringing them up, have two and three do a full sweep of the lake with sonar. I want the lake cleared of them. Over."

Leo looked at Mattie then Wright. "Them?"

"They've powered down two so far."

Mattie shivers, "But Leo powered one down. So that's three. Are you saying there's more?"

"They're like the submarine mines you see in war films, only a synth on a tether with a large battery anchor. They could have been here for months."

"Fuck. What's in your ear?"

Wright unzips his jacket. "Throat mike and earpiece, human to synth bump communications."

Mattie's head went light again.

Leo caught her. "Angel!"

"It wasn't a dream was it? It really was a message from a parallel world, one that was dying. I've not heard the voices since as she's either escaped Earth.. or died. In my dream like thing it was Danny that invented it, DCL, not the army."

Wright glances across to Danny. "Heard of an NDA?"

"Of course."

"I'm breaking one. It was Danny. DCL Government Contracts. He was sworn to secrecy. Even his parents and girlfriend don't know."

"What?"

"If our military unit synth is our James Bond then Danny Candlin is our Q."

~~~

[Chapter-86](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-86-1)


	86. Chapter 86

Mattie woke in their bedroom, surrounded by Leo, Mia, Emily, Miami, Sophie, Niska and Astrid.

Sophie gave her a worried smile, "How are you feeling now?"

"What happened?"

"Leo said you passed out."

"What time is it?"

"Seven."

"Frig." She goes to sit. "Fuck." She lies back down. "Did I bang my head?"

Leo shakes his, "No."

"So why the pounding headache when I sit up?"

Mia takes a step towards the door, "I'll get Fred's x-ray machine."

"I'll be fine."

"PWHB."

Mattie sighs. "Okay, go get it."

~~~

Laura's taxi driver slows well before the building. "What the hell.."

Laura moves forwards off the seat. "Bloody hell!"

Two huge divers where stood at the lake edge, untold numbers of synths in black clothes were on the grass, tied to large rectangles. A soldier in camouflage fatigues hears them approaching and turns to wave. A friendly wave.

The driver doesn't turn, "From the crap on those blocks I'd say they've been pulled from the lake. Who'd want to try and drown a synth?"

"No idea. I recognise him." She gets her bags together and gets a hand on the door ready to open it. "Stop here please."

~~~

Wright gives her a smile. "Mrs Hawkins. Your daughter fainted, they're all inside except for Odi."

"Where's Odi?"

"With one of our divers learning sonar. We left one down there for him."

"What the hell happened?"

"Mia says these are some of Miaz's army?"

Laura did a body count. Twenty four. Twenty five with the one Odi would be looking for. "Have you been able to work out when they hid in the lake?"

"Not yet. From all the growth on the rope I'd guess quite a few months."

~~~

Mia swept the x-ray device, "Nothing bad is happening inside your head Mattie."

"Good. Thanks. I'll just take a couple of tablets then."

Sophie looks at Niska, "We'll do the show another night?"

"Yes."

Mattie kept her eyes closed. "Show?"

"A fashion show. We got a lot of clothes today."

"Give me twenty for some tablets to work and I'll join you."

~~~

Odi made a loud click with his tongue and listened for the echo. With his eyes he could just make out the synth in the distance, was trying to understand the sounds he was hearing. 'Is there a trick to it James?'

'Think about the click you hear through your head from making the sound and the delay for the echo to come back. Sound travels at 1484 meters a second in water. From the delay you can calculate distance. By examining the left-right amplitude differences you can judge position.'

Odi turned his head sideways five degrees and clicked again. "I can indeed. I estimate the target is approximately nineteen meters away.'

'Close enough. Let's go recover them.'

'Are you certain there aren't any more?'

'My brothers and I have dedicated hardware for sonar. We can click much louder. We've done a full sweep of the lake.'

'Thank you. Would it be an easy modification?'

'Talk to David. I don't know.'

James helps Odi drop to the bottom of the lake and walk towards the battery. 'These bastards could have been in a low power monitoring mode for years off that power cell.'

'It is rather large.'

'They'd make a great backup battery.'

'We should give them to Daniel.'

'Q? Of course.'

'You know him?'

'Of him. His security clearance didn't allow him to know about us. Sarge is going to get into a lot of trouble for breaking protocol.' The MUS makes clunking noises.

'What is happening?'

'Don't worry, I'm just reconfiguring for heavy lift work.' He bends down and grabs the battery. His feet sink deep into the silt. 'Stand clear.' He pulls the battery up and pushes it hard, allows it to pull him out of the silt before it hits the bottom. 'It will take quite a few hops to get it to shore, visibility will drop again. Feel free to get out now.'

Odi clicks. 'I'll be able to see where you are James.'

~~~

Mattie steps out of the building and stares at the mass of synths on the ground. It was a lot like the scene outside the Qualia silo. Only these wore black not blue and were each tied to a weight. "Frigging hell. How many?"

"James is bringing up the last one. Twenty five."

Laura wraps an arm around her. "If you need any counselling.."

"Mum.."

"I'm just saying. If you need anything just ask. Don't bottle it up inside. People are looking to you for so much. It's a lot for young shoulders."

"Thanks." She sees ripples on the lake. "He's getting close." She looks at the two divers stood talking. "If I had Emily's drawing skills and had to draw the military synths in my visions that's _exactly_ what they'd look like."

Leo takes her hand. "Come say hello. They're nice guys. And on our side. The three will be staying, reporting to Odi."

"You're kidding?"

"Nope."

~~~

The MUS hear her coming and with some considerable noise turn to face her and salute.

"There's no need to salute me."

"There's a chain of command to be followed."

Mattie rolls her eyes. What did they say in the movies? "At ease men. And don't call me anything other than Mattie. That's an order."

With quite a whine the soldiers lower their arms.

James two attempts a smile. "Permission to speak Mattie?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you know who made us?"

"Oh. I was going to ask the same. You don't know?"

"No Mattie. We assumed a military division of Persona as we were blessed by the awakening too. But even our best officers can't trace the source."

"Hmm.."

"Mattie."

She turns to see David. "Hi."

"The agreement with Persona gave them exclusive rights for a number of years. Then other manufacturers could build to the same AI specs, have their synths register on the global network in return for fees."

"Yeah, we've covered that in the lectures."

"And what does a standard non-HECLS synth do on first boot?"

"Register on the network!"

"And with the geolocation database.."

"We could find out where. Assuming we can get access to the logs."

Wright joins them. "Can I save you the bother? I can show you where. It's totally empty now."

"It doesn't matter. We don't need to see it. With a search radius, IP address and a number of databases we can narrow it down. No rush though, we've got a fashion show to watch. Sorry James, you won't fit up the stairs to the roof garden."

"Not a problem, we'll be on guard duty once Odi and One are out. Where would you like everything stored?"

~~~

[Chapter-87](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-87-1)


	87. Chapter 87

The roof garden had been rearranged, there was now one long path down the middle, chairs set out along the two long edges and end.

Danny had made quickly printed phone holders and rigged them up in key places, Leo was firing all the phones via Bluetooth.

Niska strutted confidently along the path, popped a hip, gave her head a quick turn to get her hair in motion. She turns to strut back to their small hastily cobbled together changing room as Astrid leaves wearing a smile and the suit, no top. They meet half way and share a kiss.

Emily gives them a whistle, shouts "Hot!", takes a moment to get a photo on her iPad.

Poppy, Barbara and Cindy were being most enthusiastic with their clapping. David was clearly watching Poppy's reactions to everything, making notes in his head, his face going through various expressions.

~~~

As Astrid turned to return to the changing room she sees Ron, Wrench and Maverick still holding up cards with 10 painted on them. They knew she was gay but didn't care. Astrid suspected they only had the one card each. They may be old but they still had a spark and desire for fun. She turns to face the changing room and sees Renie and Sophie leaving together.

Toby mixes to another track and Sophie does a fast dance walk up the path, body pops at the end while Renie does a confident model style walk, one hand in her suit pocket, the jacket pushed back. At the end of their runway Sophie gives her a high five and cartwheels all the way back.

~~~

Buzz showed his boarding card to the stewardess, "Hello.. Miaka. Why are you smiling like that? Do I know you?"

~~~

As Renie is nearing the changing room Toby changes the track again to Steve Aoki's Feel.

' _I'm locked and load and ready to blow._ '

It immediately cuts to Azealia Banks' 212 as Astrid, Niska and Miami came out together wearing three identically red coloured but otherwise very different swimsuits.

Mattie gave them a wolf whistle, "Beware the ladies in red!"

Emily gives the three a "Whoop whoop." and takes another photo.

Everyone was paying so much attention to the strutting and posing that they weren't really listening to the music.

~~~

A good dozen changes later the five come out together and take a bow.

Niska got them all into a group hug. "That was fun! I'm hungry. Are the pizzas ready? It smells like it."

Sophie giggles. "I like that you say that now, not power percentages."

Niska feels a tap on the shoulder and turns to see one of the astronauts. "Hello Wrench."

"Hi Niska. You had a nice shorts and top combo on at lunch time. Could you tell me where you got it all?"

"I can. Why?"

"There's a lady from the lake, a gorgeous redhead.. when I'm in my new body.."

"That's a look. You have no idea what her personality will be like."

"That is true. But does anyone when they first meet another?"

Niska considered it for a few milliseconds. "I suppose not. You'd like her reserved, cleaned, patched and made ready?"

"When I'm in my synth body. This old thing couldn't cope. And I want to ask her for a date. If she says no, well, she says no."

"You wouldn't want her fixed?"

"Good lord no! That would be unethical. Fixing what was once there and removed or broken is one thing. Removing free will.. no."

"Good, just checking. I've let Mia know."

"When?"

"Just then."

"Oh. Haha. I'll get used to your telepathic communications one day. Most likely when I'm in my new body and able to do it too."

"Talk to Stuff and you could do it right now."

"Who?"

"Wright. The soldier."

"Really?"

"He's showing Emily the communications device Danny designed right now."

"Thank you my dear. I'd appreciate a shopping list for that outfit if you wouldn't mind. No rush." Wrench gets to the pizza oven as fast as his old body will allow, smiles at Emily. "I do like a choker on a lady. Don't ask me why. How does it work?"

~~~

Mattie sidled up to Miami and offered a glass of wine. "Why the face?"

"Spider and Wrench have expressed their feelings towards others. If Rocket does the same.."

"You fancy Rocket?"

"I fancied both Rocket and Wrench."

"I thought you liked Spider's design with the extra two inches on his biceps?"

"I've got to know them a bit better."

"Who was at the top of your list before this evening then?"

"Rocket. He's got style."

"Have you made your feelings known?"

"No."

"Why the hell not? Don't ask, don't get."

~~~

[Chapter-88](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-88-1)


	88. Chapter 88

At eleven o'clock Mattie waves her hand around the bedroom door until the lock clicks, turns to Leo. "Wait here for twenty seconds then come in."

"Why?"

"Because the lady asked you to."

"Fair enough. Nineteen. Eighteen.."

Mattie slipped inside and got the sweater from its hiding place, found her best heals and raced into the bathroom to strip off. She checked herself in the mirror. Her hair although clean was a bit of a mess. She'd head into the village and get a deep conditioning and blow dry in the morning, look professional for Buzz.

She hears the bedroom door open, gets close to the closed bathroom door. "Bunny, get the chair and put it in the middle of the floor. I'll be out in a moment."

"Facing which way?"

"The bed."

"Okay."

~~~

Mattie stepped into the sweater, put the collar over her head, sorted her hair out and got the thing into place. She reaches behind her back and undoes the bra. Butterflies danced around in her stomach. What she was about to do could be called teasing or flirting. Probably both. Sure she'd teased before, but not on this scale. She wriggles out of her thong and drops both it and the bra into the laundry basket. As it lands she notices something different. "He's not?"

On the bra was a tiny rice sized thing. RFID laundry tags already? "Bunny, are you seated?"

"I am Angel."

She slips on her shoes, looks at herself in the mirror, crosses fingers on both hands. "Good luck you."

~~~

Mattie opens the door and steps slowly out of the bathroom. "I see I have a smuggler in my bedroom, I may have to give him a strip search later."

Leo turns to see her, "I thought you.. oh.. wow.. Marry me Mattie Hawkins!"

"I've already said yes, I'm wearing your ring remember?"

"I meant this month." Tears well up quickly, one drops and runs down his right cheek.

"Aww Bunny."

He starts crying, his body shaking.

"Aww Bunny, if that's what you'd like. Yes again."

"I thought I might lose you today."

"Lose me? In the lake?"

"Yes."

She'd thought the same. "You got me free, my half synth knight in budgie yellow Speedos."

Leo lets a laugh out between sobs.

Mattie sits on his lap, runs fingers through his hair. "You got me free."

"I was determined. But I wasn't confident."

"Sometimes that's all you need. Don't cry Bunny. I'm here, all good."

"I tried all my Jedi mind tricks as Toby's nicknamed them, none of them worked."

"Don't cry Bunny, I'm right here. And tomorrow we'll buy a mass of drives and do our own backups. We need to get some more anyway for Buzz." She kisses him lightly on the lips. "Changing the subject lots, what do you think of this crazy sweater? It's called the Virgin Killer."

Leo wipes his eyes with his palms, "Does losing your virginity count if you have no memory of it whatsoever?"

"Some might say yes, you're a special case, so I'm saying no. Did you get condoms?"

"After the hint you dropped last time? They're in my sock draw."

"Good. We'll not need them yet. We're only moving to compatibility checks level two."

Leo laughs, "Level two? Do I get to wear a different coloured belt if I pass?"

Mattie chuckles, "Yeah, I'll buy you a new belt. Ha! Level two in judo is yellow. I'll get you a yellow belt if you pass."

"So what's level two?"

"First you have to watch me moving around in this VKS without losing it.."

"Then?"

"Then.. then you'll learn how to kiss the magic bean."

Leo looks distant for a moment and chuckles. "Okay."

"What do you mean _okay_? What's so funny?"

"I just went online and did some reading."

"Of?"

"Cosmopolitan's website. I never expected them to be so.. tongue in cheek funny."

"What was the page?"

"How to eat a girl out."

Mattie coughs.

"Which linked to Nine oral sex positions you need in your life."

Mattie blushed a little. She wasn't used to talking about this sort of thing. Or doing it. Her heart was pounding. "That's one way of putting it. Are you eating out tonight?"

Leo chuckled and nodded slightly. "Did you hear the track Toby dropped when the three came out in the red swimsuits?"

"What was it?"

"Azealia Banks. 212."

"How do you know that?"

"I've found an open equivalent to Shazam called Echo Nest. I can hear a bit of a track and tell you what it is in seconds."

"What was it about 212?"

"Find the lyrics and see."

Mattie gets up and goes for her phone.

"Whoever came up with that design.. Thank you."

"Doing something for you Bunny is it?"

"If you were a synth you'd see my BPM is up significantly."

"Mine too." Mattie does a little shimmy and searches. "Frigging hell! Toby forgets that even if they're not paying attention, you synths can recall memories and reexamine them for details you weren't conscious of at the time."

"Maybe that's why he played it. For others to recall later?"

"I don't recall any bad language, he'd sampled and remixed it. But he must have known someone would work out what it was and listen to the whole thing."

Leo beckons her back, "Maybe he just liked the tempo? I didn't smell roses?"

"This is part of the test. You have to like me as I am, no makeup or perfume."

"No artificial additives or flavour enhancers.."

"None."

"I love you just as you are."

Mattie sits on his lap again. "Hello. Something's happening. Which bits do you like the most?"

Leo raises a hand, brushes her hair to one side. "The brain in here. Then these together when you smile." He gently touches her eyes and mouth.

"Then what?"

He runs a hand down her neck to the small of her back and the other down her front. "All of this. Head to toe."

"You're not a boob, bum or leg man?"

"I'm a Mattie man."

It's rewarded with a long open mouth kiss. She feels a hand running over her hip, it touches her ticklish spot. She fights the urge to laugh and keeps kissing. Then a thought pops into her head and she breaks away. "Our swim was cut short. What's your charge like?"

"I put on the coil while you were sleeping earlier. I'm good."

"Carry me to the bed and kiss me again."

"Using one of nine?"

"What do you think?"

"I think I'd like to see you do a little dance in that first."

~~~

[Chapter-89](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-89-1)


	89. Chapter 89

Toby is shocked to see Mattie enter the kitchen. He checks his watch. "Seven o'clock? Am I dreaming? Couldn't you sleep?"

Mattie yawns and grins, "You assume I even tried. I got enough, just. You sneaked in 212 yesterday. Dine at the late night all you can eat buffet did you?"

Toby goes rapidly red. "Um.."

"That's a yes then."

Astrid and Niska enter, both in silk PJ.

Mattie gets the OJ out, "Morning ladies. Did you notice the track Tobs used for when you came out in the red swimwear?"

Astrid raises an eyebrow, "We did. Almost the same colour as his face. Toby Hawkins you're a naughty boy." It was said with a wicked smile. "Naughty but nice."

Niska gently pulls Astrid around for a kiss.

Toby looks away. "Um.. what does everyone want for breakfast? I was going to put some sausages in the oven."

Mattie spills some of the OJ while pouring a second glass, the suppressed laughter making her shake. "Was that a euphemism?"

"No! I've got a pack of ten Heck out. Eggs and bacon."

Mattie wipes up the spill, "I'll be back in a bit. We'll have a full English thanks. Today's going to be a full on day. Is Mum up yet?"

"Why?"

"I'm getting my hair done first thing, thought she might like to join me."

"Yeah, that's pretty full on."

"Then it's buying a stack of drives for backups. Every family member gets one after yesterday's lucky escape."

"Danny was chatting about making a dedicated high performance server for it. I'll call him if you want?"

"After nine, sure."

~~~

Laura went to head downstairs and spotted Mattie coming up. "Goooood morning." The words had been sung.

"Alright Mum. Sleep well?"

"Eventually."

"212?"

Laura blushes a little as Mattie gets to the top. "Leo noticed it too?"

"I bet all the synths did. Niska and Astrid looked fully loved up. We'll use 212 as a code word." She winks. "I'm heading to the village to get a deep conditioning and blow dry as soon as they open. Want to join me?"

"I'd love to. We've not had any us time in ages."

"Cool. Toby's cooking breakfast if you want to get an order in."

"I will. How are you today?"

"Me? I'm good. I was looking up at the surface the whole time. Leo's had it worse, he had to fight the synth, remembers everything."

"Good job we have those three giants on long term loan. I'll see you downstairs in a bit?"

"Sure. Twenty minutes?"

~~~

Leo rolled over as the door clicked, sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Morning Angel."

"Morning Bunny. Sleep well?"

"After a bit of work, yes."

"Work?"

"I kept dreaming about the lake. So I thought about the bit where you got free and I grabbed your hips and helped get you up to the surface. Over and over. I thought about that moment so much when I did fall back to sleep that's all I dreamt about."

"What did you see?"

"Mainly your bottom."

"So now you're a bum man?"

"No, I'm still a head to toe Mattie man."

"A yellow belt at that. Toby's cooking breakfast, up you get."

"I am already."

~~~

At five to nine Mattie and Laura were outside the hairdressers waiting for it to open.

Laura takes a drag on her new vape. "What's Leo up to this morning?"

"Apart from recovering from having a stupid grin on his face during breakfast? A cut down OS for the server Danny's going to build."

"Stupid grin?"

"I'm not going to be able to hear Toby mention Star Trek's Seven of Nine without thinking of something else."

"Getting on okay with him?"

"Yeah. Which reminds me.. I saved a few screen shots. Which do you think's more him? The leather or woven one?"

Laura swipes left-right to compare the two belt photos. "If with jeans the woven one. The colour is better too." The phone starts ringing. "Danny's calling." It's passed back.

"Hi Danny.. Sure, just don't break anything getting it out of the workshop. Especially the redhead synth from the lake if she's in there. I'll explain later.. Um.. sure, if they've got the time." She holds the phone tighter and concentrates. "I see. What's that? Oh.. Sounds good. Thanks. See you in a bit, Mum and I are in the village for a hair do." She hangs up. "Frank and Dozer have arrived for Miley moving. Danny wants a second hole cut to build a temporary data vault and lab. He doesn't want it in the workshop where it can be knocked."

"He's using moving parts?"

"He says he can get a mass of traditional hard drives at a good price, set up RAID with a load of automated redundancy until his idea's ready."

"What idea's that?"

"He wouldn't give details over the phone."

They turn at the sound of the door being unlocked, see the sign being changed from Closed to Open.

~~~

[Chapter-90](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-90-1)


	90. Chapter 90

Leo pulls a chair over for Danny. "You look like you had a good night. 212?"

"You too? Emily knew the track from her dance days. Yeah, very good. I want to get Alfie milling out a custom dual layer PCB, I'm making a monster for the archive."

"Not an ordinary PC?"

"With the volume of IO we want? No way."

"Mattie asked that I help with the OS if that helps?"

"Awesome! If I give you a list of chips can you compile up a monolithic kernel that supports multiple CPU working as one? I don't want any module overheads, just raw power."

"Sure. Which distribution?"

"Redhat. I've got DCL a subscription now."

"So I'm doing this for DCL not HECLS?"

"Good point."

"If that's what you're using now then we'll use it to."

Emily enters with a tray of four coffee mugs. "Morning Leo. How are you?"

"Good thanks." He watches her put a mug next to Danny, one by his keyboard and another near her iPad. "Who's the forth one for?"

"David, he'll be in soon. Designer Dan has an awesome idea."

"Thanks Princess."

Leo takes a sip and puts it back down. "And what inspired this one?"

"Emily wants to make some wearable electronics for clothes. Adafruit do cool little boards called Flora and Gemma. They got me thinking."

David enters with a plate full of breakfast. "Good morning all. What's this idea you're so excited about then Danny?"

"Dad and Dozer are cutting a second shaft for a temporary data vault. What if we extended sideways a little to make a small factory?"

"For what?"

"Manufacturing. Computer chips the size of a whole wafer. Why slice them up into individual chips, stick them on boards to wire them back up again?" He clicks to maximise a browser. "This is an Adafruit Flora board. It's got a micro controller in the middle. What if we made a silicon wafer in a similar way, all the IO and power connections around the circumference, all the RAM, CPU, storage and support logic on the same silicon? One wafer could be a massive SSD drive. Or multicore CPU. Bond the back to a finned cooling block, wire up the top side and encapsulate it in resin. Job done."

David nods, "It would be pretty powerful. They make a mass of tiny chips and slice it up so the ones that fail to work don't write off a whole slice of silicon."

"So we don't push to quite the tiny scale they do, get our success rate higher."

David smiles, "Do you know how much the lithography equipment alone costs? To set up a chip manufacturing plant costs millions if not billions."

"Agreed. They use flipping huge lenses to focus large masks down to nanometer scales. What if we could do it simpler. With Alfie."

"Your machine doesn't have the accuracy. Not even my little thing can go down that small."

"Large labs do the projecting of a whole wafer in one hit. What if Alfie could do it line by line?"

"How?"

"Have a lever that's hinged very close to the bottom. A large movement at the long end creates a short one at the bottom. Where there's a laser attached."

David shakes his head. "Think about the many millions of transistors on a single chip. A whole wafer done like that would take a lifetime. And that's just the first of many masks."

"Oh well."

"Don't dismiss the idea yet. With all the firms constantly upgrading to try and keep up with competitors there must be second hand equipment somewhere, if you know where to look."

"You said millions if not billions."

"I did. If it's second hand a lot has been wiped off the value. I think the MARCUS Project should be covered by the Angel Foundation. Plan A fix C4, the climate change cascade catastrophe. Plan B have key people in the arc. Build Arc A down here. Arc B in space."

Danny burst out laughing. "Golgafrinchans!"

"Pardon?"

"Go read The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. Hairdressers and telephone sanitisers would be redundant if we were all synths. They went in the B Ark. The C Ark had the people worth saving."

"I'll add it to my reading list. Could we get a lens from someone else? Maybe an old telescope? If it has distortion we could compensate at source."

Leo frowns at his father. "Wouldn't a telescope be optimised for focusing at infinity?"

"So we take one apart and use the lens elements to make our own. Getting processor grade silicon wafers, now that's hard and expensive. It might take us a few years to amass all the hardware we need. But you never finish a long journey without starting it. Just like the sky lift."

~~~

Laura smiled to herself as her head got another good massage with the second lot of conditioner. "Mmmm. We should do this more often Mats."

"You're not wrong there. It's not as good as a 212 but it ranks frigging high."

Laura snort laughs. "Do you think Toby appreciates the chain of events he set off?"

"The power of music."

"Mmmmm."

"Mum, don't get carried away."

"After a shitty week I think we deserve to get carried away. I won't see the inside of a court room for _two whole days_. I fully intend to make the most of it. And your week, oh my God. All that rubbish with you know who. Times three! Then the lake. I'm surprised you're taking it so well. I'd be a gibbering wreck by now."

"It has been challenging, not just for me."

"So make sure this weekend is as relaxing as possible."

"Number one on the list is meeting Buzz. And seeing Spider's okay. No. Scrub that. Number one is storage and backups. Buzz two, Spider three. The rest can roll along at whatever pace it wants. Hmm. Maybe four is helping sort out our twenty five new visitors."

"Let the Elsters sort that out. Or you'll get to Monday and wonder where the weekend went." Laura smiled again as the synth assistant combed her conditioner laden hair. "If I had this and a 212 at the same time I think my brain would short circuit."

Mattie snorts.

The synth frowns. "Mrs Hawkins? What is a 212? Am I in any immediate danger?"

Mattie chuckles. "No! Don't worry Simon, you're in no danger."

"What is a 212?"

Mattie shifted in her chair. "Um.. Have you heard of a one to one?"

"A person to person conversation?"

"Yeah. In numbers a 121. Well a 212 is the same only more personal."

Laura sighed, "Much more deep and meaningful."

Mattie wobbled with laughter, bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.

~~~

[Chapter-91](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-91-1)


	91. Chapter 91

Danny looked at the complex PCB diagram his software had laid out. It needed three layers. "Bugger."

Leo wheeled sideways. "It's not working?"

"It's managed to work out a track layout that fits a three layer board instead of four, it says two is impossible."

"And that's a problem?"

"I can have Alfie cut one side and drill through holes, flip it over and have him use the camera to realign ready for the other side. Three layers means multiple boards. And my PCB blanks are too thick to layer up like that."

David wheels over. "How about doing some screen printing and cooking experiments?"

"Do you mean flexible PCB? Like they use to join up bits of phones and laptops? If so I've been there, tried that. For a client I can't name. Making them is hard enough. Joining multiples together? Nightmare."

"Forget that then."

Leo stares at the mess of lines on the screen for a while. "You have two sided PCB blanks."

"Yeah. Copper on both sides."

"And you somehow link the two?"

"With through holes. Pads both sides that have solder flow between them."

"And the components go on one side?"

"They're SMT packages."

"And?"

"They're gently dropped into place then everything's heated, the solder melts and gravity pulls them down, the solder is allowed to cool, bingo. One working circuit board."

"Could you SMT on the second side?"

"With difficulty."

Emily finishes her coffee. "Can I suggest something?"

"Please do Babes."

"How about something like a bed of nails? Tiny pins that press the component to the board. The board could go through the reflow oven just once then."

"So we place, pin and flip, place side two and put through the reflow oven?"

"That was what I thought. Would it work?"

"Maybe. I'll need to muck about with the layout code, mirror the chips and see what it comes up with. If it can work out a two layer layout then I can mill and drill something that takes identical length pins and puts them at the right heights."

~~~

Simon waves the hairdryer and puts the brush down. "Off to the shops now Mrs Hawkins?"

"We are. Why do you ask?"

"I'm just practicing small talk."

Mattie sticks her phone under Laura's nose. "Change of plan. He's just landed."

"I thought you said.."

"Midday. I know. Maybe they moved him to an earlier flight?"

"Bloody hell. We better go."

Simon gets in front of Laura and puts a hand out to help her stand.

"I'm not disabled thank you."

"I didn't say you were Mrs Hawkins. I'm trying to be a gentleman."

"Oh." She takes his hand and stands. "If I could have a large can of hairspray please."

"Certainly. Anything else?"

"That's it thanks." She gets her purse out and pulls out her card.

"Our card machine is down. Pay me next time you're in the village."

"Oh. Okay."

Mattie checks her hair in the mirror while Laura gets her jacket on. "Thanks Simon, it looks great. Mum, do you think we can get there before he gets through passport control and customs?"

"No idea. Let's go for it."

~~~

Danny put his hand up for a high five. "Princess. It only bloody worked!"

Emily looks up from her iPad to see the screen. "That's pretty, compared to the last attempt."

"And smaller. Way smaller. And with only those chips on side two the pin thing's going to be dead easy."

Leo sips some cold coffee and nods. The design did look good. And he had a monolithic kernel compiled, all the chips Danny had listed supported. He'd used all of the configuration options to make it as fast as possible. "Which are the RAM chips?"

Danny points and sweeps his finger, "This line here. And all of this is IO chips. These sets of pads are for the SATA connectors. They'll be hand soldered on last. Awesome Ems. We can get one end of Alfie milling PCB, the other drilling the pin board. I better add some mounting holes on the PCB, we can use them for alignment."

David stands, "I've got a smallish sheet of aircraft grade aluminium if you'd like it for the pin board. It wouldn't flex and would stand the heat of a reflow oven."

"Thanks David." His phone chimes. "Oh. Buzz has landed early. Mattie asks if we can get the drives?"

Emily stands. "You boys work with Alfie, I'll get them with Pinky."

"Sure Babes?"

"Sure."

"Got your HECLS card?"

"Yes Babes. Text Pinky the address, I'll get going." She gives him a kiss and heads to the door.

~~~

Leo drains his mug. "Text? You've added a phone to Pinky?"

"Yeah. I can now use Find Friends to find where she is even if Emily's forgotten to charge her phone. And Pinky can send me telemetry. I've got that off at the moment."

"Telemetry?"

"Pinky's wired into the multiplexed CAN Bussed system."

"She's what?"

"Seen a wiring loom for an old car?"

"At scrap heaps when hiding from Hobb, yes."

"Modern cars don't use them. They use a CAN Bus. Pinky can send messages on it if needed, for example turn on hazard lights, headlights, stuff like that. She also listens. To everything. So I can get engine temperature and RPM, oil and water stats, all sensor data. Speed and direction too."

"Cool. Over multiple text messages?"

"If 4G's flaked out, yes. I usually have that fallback off. The lag can be a bitch what with it being store and forward."

"Can we see?"

"Sure. I've got a GUI for the phone, it's easier to see via a browser."

"To Pinky?"

"My DCL server." He fires up Chrome and logs in.

"That was a long password. I promise I looked away, only heard the key taps."

One by one gauges appear on the screen.

"They only load when some data has arrived. I wrote it like that for debugging but decided to keep it that way." A light appeared and flashed. "She's turning left." He clicks in the middle of some blank space. A grey box appears. "This will take a few seconds. Pinky only runs the resampling code on demand." A live video stream appears.

' _Hi Babes_.'

He clicks at the bottom, an input field appears. He types fast. _Hi Babes, just showing Leo and David the telemetry system_. He hits the return key.

' _Okay Babes._ '

David smiled, "Your text to speech works well. Did it take long to create the phonemes?"

"Days. Days of recording. Ems code broke it all down in minutes."

Leo rolled his chair back and stretches, "What BIOS are we using?"

"Libreboot."

"Want me to download it?"

"Got it already thanks."

~~~

Emily taps the steering wheel, "Pinky Babes, let's have some music. Start with 212."

~~~

David hears the request over the video feed. "Oh please no. If I never hear that bloody song again I'll die happy."

Danny mutes the sound. "David?"

"We designed some features too well. When you've heard _Don't stop_ for the hundredth time.."

Danny's jaw dropped.

David turns to see him. "That wasn't an exaggeration. The first dozen or so times were okay. Then it rapidly got very boring. I'm glad I can multitask."

Danny shakes his head, "I thought getting eight out of Emily was good going, she was exhausted by then. I think I'd get cramp after ten. Seriously? One hundred?"

"Yes. I could kill Toby. I won't of course. I've had to put my foot down, it's not to be repeated. A dozen maximum in future. Too much of a good thing spoils it."

Danny gets up and goes to a shelf high up, gets down a box. "Leo, d'you think we have a customer for one of.."

"Ha. Potential."

~~~

[Chapter-92](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-92-1)


	92. Chapter 92

Pinky starts indicating. "Next left please Emily."

"Sure Babes. Hey Dan, when's Spider due out?" There's no reply. "Dan?"

"He may have muted audio."

"He doesn't like my singing?"

"Could anyone have been with him when my video feed was enabled?"

"Sure. Leo and David."

"David Elster?"

"Yes Babes."

"From his Spotify playlist I don't think it was his type of music."

"His playlist?"

"He submitted a few ideas for Miami. I can't imagine her using them."

"Let's have a listen."

~~~

Laura yanked up the handbrake. "We could have set a new record if it wasn't for that family of ducks trying to cross the motorway."

"At least it was on the other side of the junction." Mattie opens her door. "And none got hurt."

~~~

David turns to see Danny. "Know the name Inmos?"

"Yeah. Makers of the Transputer among other things."

"No longer in business. They shut down in 1992. The company was sold to a British conglomerate and later sold to what is now ST Microelectronics."

"What about them?"

"Guess."

"They've got old fabrication gear for sale?"

"They didn't. Until I made an enquiry. As part of the deal we need to decommission and remove it. That shouldn't be a problem for the Candlin family should it?"

"Um.. no. How much did it cost?"

"A lot. A license to a design I was saving for you. But long term our mission is far far more important. We should not be distracted by the little things."

"How little?"

"I'd guess worldwide sales of the chip over the next ten years will bring in fifty billion."

"Holy fuck! Fifty _billion_? What was the design for?"

"A communications chip. I've just sent them the design, they have twenty four hours to verify it."

Leo rests on elbows. "Fifty _billion_?"

"Yes. And in return we get one percent of sales. That should help fund Sky Lift shouldn't it?"

"Bloody hell Dad. One percent?"

"Why be greedy? One percent of turnover from the chip and the equipment with zero money from us isn't a bad deal is it?"

Danny looked stunned. "So when you said a lot. You only meant the design?"

"Yes."

"No cash involved?"

"Not directly. We'll have to spend a fortune on hiring or building specialist machines to get the equipment out. And digging out a suitable shaft and underground lab for it."

Danny pinched his arm. "Not dreaming. You're not pulling my leg are you?"

"No. As I said, don't lose sight of the mission."

"I'm not. It's.. my fantasy man cave. It's going to really exist. Fuck."

"It will do. If your father's still on site maybe it's a good time to break the news? Candlin Demolition is about to get a new challenge. Candlin Decommission."

~~~

Emily did a little seated dance, stuck in a traffic jam. "No, can't move properly to that. Babes, can I have my music again?"

"Of course Babes."

"I can't see Miami using that either. He might have a younger body again but his music tastes.. urgghh. So glad Daddy keeps up with modern music. Any alternate routes we can use?"

"Once we get to the next junction. Which based on movement over the last five minutes will take another eleven."

Emily sighs, "As long as we get there before they close."

~~~

Laura watched Mattie watching the people coming out of the customs doors at Arrivals. The excitement was written all over her face. There'd been some serious lows the past week. This was a high she wished she could bottle for her daughter.

The number of people coming through the doors drops to a trickle then stops.

Mattie frowns. "He was definitely on that flight. Where the heck.."

Her question is answered. Buzz was sat on an electric buggy, fist up and out doing a Buzz Lightyear _To Infinity and Beyond_. The buggy turns and stops.

Mattie races over. "Buzz!"

"My dear lady. So sorry to keep you waiting. I twisted my ankle trying to move in the tiny onboard toilet. We had unexpected turbulence just as I was turning to wash my hands."

"Is it bad?"

"I'll live. Though I'd like to keep weight off it for a while."

"Let me see if we can borrow a wheelchair from somewhere."

"I've already asked, they're all in use apparently."

"Blast. How much luggage have you got?"

"One case, one rucksack."

"Hmm. I wonder.." She gets her phone out, dials. "Hi Mia. Your fork list, got anyone working at Heathrow that's free? No. Bummer. It was worth a shot. Buzz twisted his ankle."

~~~

Emily did a little arms up seated dance to a Kaskade track. "This is more my music Babes."

The car in front races forwards and throws out the anchors, smoke coming up from the tyres.

"Pillock."

"A stupid person."

"Yeah." Emily indicated left.

"Don't try and cut through yet. There's a police car five cars back."

"Oh. Thanks."

~~~

[Chapter-93](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-93-1)


	93. Chapter 93

Danny stands with hands in pockets next to his father and watches Dozer drive the mini crane off the back of the low loader. "Thanks to my cock up we've got better doors at the back of the workshop.."

"I know son, I helped put them in."

"What I was going to say, is do you fancy earning some extra money to build workshop two?"

"Where?"

"Underground. A second shaft like Miley's that opens out into an underground lab."

"Why underground?"

"So people don't know it's there."

"Top secret stuff?"

"Just stuff I'd rather others didn't know about."

"Sure. We've still got the hole cutter we welded up. Where are the shafts going?"

"Shafts?"

"You'll want more than one way in or out for fire safety won't you?"

"Um.. yeah. Know anyone that installs lifts?"

"Passenger or cargo?"

"Cargo. We could put the thing against the back of the workshop, have it go up to the first floor."

"Wouldn't that be a bit of a giveaway that you need to move big heavy objects?"

"No. It could be for Fred to take patients up to their personal recovery rooms."

"Kone then son. We have a false bottom to the shaft, make them think it only goes to the two floors. When they've gone we swap out the cables for much longer ones and lower the false floor to the bottom of the shaft."

"Not remove it?"

"Nah. They might need to come back and service it. Where's the escape staircase going to be?"

"Could a fire exit route come out in Miley's shaft?"

"It could. That's a fair distance between the two. How big are you wanting this lab?"

"Big."

~~~

Emily indicated again and got off the dual carriageway. "At last!"

"We are now twenty minutes away, as long as there are no further delays."

~~~

David got the redhead synth and with Leo's help sat her down, plugged her into the laptop.

"Dad."

"Yes?"

"Can you erase all of her memory of her being in the lake?"

"I can. Why?"

"She's the one that grabbed Mattie."

"Oh! Want your memory of it zapped too?"

"No. I'm good now."

"Did Mattie see her?"

"No. She was looking up the whole time."

"You know that for a fact? Or could she be just saying that?"

"She knows about Wrench liking this one, if it was an issue I'd have seen it in her eyes."

"Okay. One zap and patch coming up."

"Can you see if she remembers anything of her past life?"

"Of course. I can look up who she was registered to before the awakening, where she lived."

"Please."

~~~

Mattie stuffed the receipt into her pocket. "Thanks. It's fully charged?"

"It is. Enjoy."

She turns to Buzz. "Your luggage awaits."

Buzz looks at the Modobag. "I've ridden a rocket to the moon. Never once did I think I'd ride my luggage. Was it expensive?"

"One sixty. Not bad eh?"

"The boys will love these. Is there room in the car for more?"

"Sure."

He hops over to the counter. "Four more please! And some string."

"Certainly sir."

~~~

Ten minutes later Buzz had two bags tied behind his like trailers on a long lorry. A Modobag and his own. Mattie had a two Modobag setup, Laura just the one. "Ready ladies?"

Mattie smirked. "Ready! Mum?"

"If there are any paparazzi around warn me."

Buzz gently squeezed the accelerator, "We have liftoff! Anyone know where we're heading?"

Mattie squeezed hers and did a big circle while getting her bearings. "Yup, follow me."

To her surprise Laura shot past. "Or me!"

"Mum! Slow down!"

"Catch me first!"

"We'll end up leaving Buzz behind!"

Buzz shot past, "No you won't!"

"You can't use one foot!"

"I'm gripping with my knees."

Laura slowed a little, "EXCUSE US PLEASE!"

The couple turn, jump out of the way and laugh as the small luggage convoy head to the lifts for the carpark.

~~~

Emily parked up. "We're here. Hopefully this won't take long."

"Okay Babes. I'll message Danny. Do you have the shopping list?"

"Yeah Babes, all good."

~~~

Alfie beeps and moves all tools out of the way. Danny was still outside with his father.

David turned to his son. "Do we risk flipping the board over Leo?"

"And get the orientation wrong? I'll message him."

"Thanks."

"Done. How's Red?"

"Looking good. No memory of her past life. She must have run totally flat. She was a sweet shop assistant according to Persona's database."

"Sweet."

"Ha. I'll load basic fact stores, let her know that was her job, helping customers. I'm wiping everything else."

"Wrench didn't want.."

"Leo. She had no personality thanks to Miaz. No chance to _be_ anyone. She woke up in the lake with no past, no idea of her real self. Just one instruction. To wait for swimmers and grab them. Only then would she earn the right to leave the lake. What sort of existence is that?"

"None."

"You think Wrench would want to ask an empty shell on a date?"

"No. I wouldn't."

"So we give her a personality."

"But.."

"Nothing Wrench specific. If you could go to a pick and mix counter and choose the best bits from all the women you know, what would you pick? At a high level. Top five."

"Top five? Have six. Mattie's caring about the big things, her ability to love one person so deeply. Mia's mothering instinct. Niska's strength of conviction. Miami's or Emily's ability to dance. Mum's smiling, from the good times."

David raised an eyebrow. He'd not expected the description of Mattie. Or Beatrice. "Okay. That's a good list. Those six it is."

"Make sure she doesn't fall in love with the first person she sees."

"Yes. We don't want her imprinting like a newly hatched chick. What's her name going to be?"

"How about Daphne?"

"From Scooby Doo?"

"Yes"

~~~

[Chapter-94](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-94-1)


	94. Chapter 94

Laura led the convoy out of the large lift. "VIP Coming through, excuse us please."

~~~

Emily looked at the convoy of three shopping trolleys all packed high with boxes. "They're all for Danny?"

"That's the order number."

"That doesn't look right."

"You wanted more?"

"I was expecting less."

The young lad shrugs. "That's what the printouts say, so that's what I loaded."

Emily sighs. "Can you help me load the car?"

"I'll help push them outside. Then I have to lock up and dash, my Mum's been taken to hospital."

"Oh. Sorry, nothing too serious I hope?"

"Dad ran her foot over with the lawnmower.."

"Shit!"

"She was lucky, apparently it just cut the very end of two toes. She's not lost any, just needs a lift home."

"How's your Dad?"

"Shocked but okay, can't drive as he's had a cataract operation."

Emily hands over the card. "Quick then, I'll get out of your way."

~~~

Laura paid for parking and decided to walk rather than ride to the car. "Wait here, I'll bring the car to you."

~~~

David watched the status bar as the packs uploaded to the synth. "You like to see a bit of dancing do you?" He was learning things about his son he'd never new before. When he existed as David Elster, flesh and bone inventor, he hadn't cared about such things until it was far too late.

"I do. Mattie's not a professional dancer like Miami or Emily. But when she has a little dance and isn't being watched by everyone and self conscious.. it's quite beautiful."

David turned to see Leo looking at nothing in particular, probably remembering Mattie dancing.

The door clicks. ".. yes, I'm opening them any second Dozer, hold on."

Danny races across the workshop to the new back doors, "Sorry guys, it may get a bit nasty in here for a few minutes, Dozer's bringing the fork lift through to get Miley." His phone chimes. "It's all happening. David, Spider's ready."

"Okay. I need to finish Daphne first."

Danny pulled the bolts to the doors. "Who?"

"This lady."

He pushes the doors open and turns to see. "Oh. I've not seen her model before. Another redhead."

There's the sound of an old diesel engine firing up and seconds later the forklift rumbles into view.

~~~

Emily waits by Pinky with the two trolleys while the lad goes inside to get the third.

"This really doesn't look right."

Pinky gets the passenger window down. "What's wrong?"

"There's three trolleys of the stuff."

~~~

Laura pulls up alongside Buzz and Mattie and opens up the boot. "They were so much fun. I've not been such a big kid in years."

Mattie smiled, "If we prop all the doors open and rearrange the furniture we could have races at HECLS House."

Buzz stood, winced, "I know my friends, they'll jump at the chance."

~~~

The lad wheeled the third trolley out, pulled down the shutters and locked them, turned on the alarm then raced the trolley over to Emily. "Sorry I can't stay."

"It's okay. I hope your Mum's okay."

"Thanks."

Emily opens the boot and folds down the rear seats. "This is going to take a while."

"Do you want some music?"

"Something with a high BPM please."

~~~

Leo held a tissue over his nose. The forklift truck was old and putting out a lot of smoke. "I think I'll go put the kettle on."

David ignores the fumes. Not needing to breathe had some advantages. The packs had uploaded. Fixing her root code wasn't worth it. Why risk the unknown? He wipes it and installs his own version, starts a tool to pull a high level index from the fact store into it. When that had finished he'd add a few base level thoughts.

~~~

Buzz buckled up, "I'm quite looking forward to seeing the gang again. A week has never felt longer."

Mattie nods, "It's been a full on week. Spider will be interesting. He should be waiting for you by the time we arrive."

"Interesting? That's one way to describe Patrick."

~~~

Emily had got into a rhythm, got the first two trolleys unloaded when another car pulls alongside. She ignores it at first thinking the occupants must be heading somewhere else, just liked to park near others. The strange flocking thing some drivers liked. She slows a little.

"Keep going sweet cheeks."

She looks sideways to see a badly scarred man with matchstick protruding from his lips. If she had to draw a stereotypical sleeze-bag he was the sort of person she'd do.

Another sat in the drivers seat. She looks up and around to see there were no other cars about. Or shops open. Oh dear. Don't panic. There was always a Plan B Mattie said. What would Mattie or Danny do? "What can I do for you?"

"Keep loading the car."

"Then what?"

"We've not got to that bit yet."

She gets boxes and leans in as far as she can and whispers.

The man in the passenger seat gets out. "Who're you talking to?"

"Myself." She keeps getting boxes from the trolley to put into the back.

~~~

David unplugs Daphne and plugs in Spider. Time for a fast restore. Danny had flipped the board and got Alfie going again before running. He and Leo were outside waiting for the ventilation to clear the workshop.

~~~

[Chapter-95](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-95-1)


	95. Chapter 95

The man with the matchstick leans against their dirty car. "Bet you're a good ride. You look the type. Especially with all that red hair." He watches her get two more boxes and lean right in to the back of the car. With all his attention on her backside he doesn't notice her whispering again. "What d'ya reckon J, get a good fist full of that hair and give her arse a pounding?"

The driver leans towards the passenger window, "Nah mate, get her on her back, use it to tie her to her own legs and arms, then fuck her arse."

Emily took a deep breath. She liked sex. Consensual. With her prince. The thought of this dirty creep touching her made her feel sick. 

~~~

The last of the boxes were loaded. She grabs her car keys and steps back, gets a trolley between herself and the man. "Now what?"

"You get in the passenger seat and give me the keys."

"Why should I?"

"Because I don't want to cut you."

"You don't want to drive, she won't like it."

"She? She who?"

"My car."

The man laughs. "A little pink car with eyelashes? I'm terrified, call Stephen King!"

He and the other man have a good laugh.

Emily throws the keys at him hard.

He snatches them from the air. "Was that your best shot?"

"See if you can drive her then." Emily crosses her arms defiantly.

"Sweet cheeks, I've boosted all types of cars. A little runaround like this.. piss easy."

"You've got the keys. Go on then. I assume you wanted the hardware."

"Hardware? What's hardware?"

"The things I've been loading."

"We don't want that shit sweet cheeks, I want your arse." He grabs his crutch, "Not had any action for a few days. It's hungry for some plundering. And you won't tell, you don't want that pretty face all sliced up."

Emily takes a few steps back as he takes a few forwards.

~~~

Pinky starts her engine and revs high, her reverse light on. Her windows lower and the car stereo comes on.

_Don't touch me I'm a real live wire. Psycho Killer, qu'est-ce que c'est. Fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-far better. Run run run run run run run away oh oh. Psycho Killer. Qu'est-ce que c'est._

The engine revs higher and the track changes.

_Uggh! Killing in the name of! Killing in the name of_

Emily knew Pinky had no steering control, no way to operate the gears or clutch. He wouldn't know. And he was now paying more attention to the car than her. The track changes again.

_All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, out run my gun. All the other kids with the pumped up kicks. You'd better run, better run, faster than my bullet._

He turns to see she'd got further away. "Nice trick, shut it off."

Emily puts her hands up, palms showing. "No trick. No remote. You've got the keys."

He steps towards the driver's door, "The handbrake's still on. It's not going anywhere."

"No. But you are."

"Yeah, with you."

"Maybe not." The police car that had been driving up silently behind him stops and two officers get out. "My smart little car will have recorded everything. On all her cameras and microphones. Won't you Babes?"

The loud music stops. "Yes Babes."

Emily smiles. "Enjoy being plundered by fellow inmates. Jerk."

~~~

The police get close, tasers out and ready to fire. One puts handcuffs on the driver's right hand and his steering wheel.

The other steps around to the passenger side. "Well well. Look who we have here. Your running days are over arse hole."

"Not done anything."

"Apart from threaten this young lady with rape. Which fits your M.O. And now we've got evidence."

"You got nothing."

"The car called us. We've been listening to the entire conversation on the way over. What was it.. get a good fist full of that hair and give her arse a pounding? You've picked the wrong lady this time. And when she sees you in court all the other women will find the strength to stand up and tell the world about their ordeals. You'll do years for what you've done."

"Didn't touch her."

"No, but you made enough threats to. Rape. Physical harm if she told. With your track record that's enough. We finally have it in your own words. Words we know you've used plenty times before."

Emily closed her eyes. Crap. She didn't need a court appearance and publicity. But if he was a serial rapist no way could she let him walk free. She opens her eyes and looks at the officer. "Can I get my shopping back home then come and make a statement? I can get the video copied to a DVD too."

"That would be great, thanks." He pulls out a card, "If you can come to this station."

"Thanks."

Matchstick makes a break for it and gets tasered before he can get that far.

Emily watches him writhe. "I've never seen one of those in action before. That's rather satisfying."

~~~

[Chapter-96](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-96-1)


	96. Chapter 96

David touches Spider's chin and waits the couple of seconds. "Welcome back!"

Patrick runs his fingers through his hair.

David frowns. "Well there's a first. Usually people check their hands."

"I just did. And my hair. Why do one thing when you can do two at the same time?"

"Very true. How do you feel?"

"Strangely amazing. I take it I'm dead? I mean the old me?"

"Yes."

"I was on borrowed time, lucky I got the time I did. What day is it?"

"Ask that question to yourself silently in your head."

"Okay.. oh. Saturday. Well I never. I have a real time clock. Where are my things?"

"In a box."

"Is the bunny tail in there?"

"It is."

"Fancy going back to the club?"

'Maybe later. Buzz should be here soon. Mattie and Laura are picking him up from the airport.'

Patrick frowned. "You. You just spoke to me but I didn't see your lips move?"

"Do you recall anyone talking about head bumping?"

"I.. I find I do."

"Think of saying Hello to everyone in the building. Then say it. In your head."

Patrick closes his eyes, does so. He frowns and smiles. "Odi, Leo, Niska, Mia, Poppy. Miami? No Fred, Max or Flash?"

"They're travelling."

"Odi says Laura is pulling into the drive?"

"Excellent timing!"

~~~

Danny and Leo come in and bolt the doors.

Leo smiles, "Nice uniform Spider."

"Thanks. Buzz is here."

"I heard."

~~~

Mattie helps Buzz out of the car. "How's your ankle now?"

"Calming down thanks. An ice pack would be appreciated."

"Sure. Come in, we'll get the cases in a moment."

~~~

There's a knock on the workshop door. "Spider! Is it true?"

Patrick smiles, "Rocket! It's true! David, can they come in?"

"Sure." He uses Leo's trick to talk to the building security and unlock the door. "Come in!"

Rocket, Maverick and Wrench enter like bumbling school children.

Patrick walks towards them, "What d'you think of the old duffer now then? Not bad eh?"

Wrench gives him a bear hug. "Give us a turn Spider."

Patrick puts his arms up and turns around. "This lads, is the future." He sees a familiar face in the doorway. "BUZZ! Someone crack out the light beer!"

~~~

The afternoon turned into a bit of a party. Danny was buzzing, Emily's pin idea for the reflow oven had worked. They'd soldered one drive connector on, got the BIOS in an got a boot loader loading the kernel. The rest of the OS could follow later.

Sophie, Toby, Laura and Renie had a race around the ground floor on the luggage. The girls instantly decided that they needed one each. Laura's inner child was clearly in control today.

Ron handed Renie a cheque. "For the holiday I promised."

"I couldn't.."

"Sure you could. Save it for later if not now."

"Thanks."

Spider had a go on the cardboard bike. "Mav, can you picture the five of us on these?"

"You bet."

~~~

Mattie goes to the kitchen to get the latest pizza. "Tobs, have you seen Emily?"

"Not for a bit, she told Danny that she had to go do something quick, would be back ASAP."

"Hmm. Okay. What's ready?"

"Inferno and Hawaiian."

"Cool. Buzz is buzzing. David found enough space to do his backup."

"When's he doing it?"

"Already done it."

"That was quick."

"He's the main man. We don't want him doing a Spider on us before a backup's done."

"Yeah, that would be a real downer."

Poppy, Mia, Miami, Niska and Astrid enter the kitchen.

Mia coughs to get Mattie's attention. "Sorry Mattie. Can you introduce us please?"

"Sure, help carry the pizza in."

"Only I've had a thing about the moon since I first woke up. And he's stepped foot on it."

~~~

Much later that evening when everything had calmed down Danny solders on all the many SATA connectors. "Ems Babes, why'd you get so many drives?"

"I only got what was on your order?"

"Three times what I ordered."

"He said that's what was on the paperwork."

"He said.. oh crap. What a muppet."

"What?"

"Did you see the paperwork?"

"The top copy."

"That's the word. Copy. They print three. Customer. Accounts. Delivery. They don't usually have people collect those orders. He's looked at all three copies as if they were three parts of a large order. Owners son?"

"Possibly, he said his father couldn't drive due to a cataract op?"

"That's him then. We'll have to return two thirds."

David puts up a hand. "Now you've got them keep them. Build two more boards. The more storage the better. I'll pay."

"Okay. Leo, how's the OS install prep coming along?"

"Good Danny. It's all compiling. We should be able to boot into NAS code just after midnight."

"Awesome. What a day."

Leo nodded. "Mia asking Buzz to autograph her collar bone. That was unexpected."

"Just a bit. She's over the moon about him doing it."

Danny turns to see Emily roll her eyes then go back to looking at tattoo designs. "Princess?"

"Over the moon? I might be changing my ink and hair design."

"Why?"

"I might be in court soon. As a witness."

"Why?"

"Some jerk that spoke to me while I was loading the car. Pinky helped delay him while the police got there."

"You called the police?"

"I asked her to. Turns out he had an arrest warrant out, he's a serial rapist."

"Holy shit. He didn't touch you?"

"No! Pinky started her engine and got all aggressive and protective."

Mattie frowned. "Pinky? Aggressive?"

"She started playing bits from tracks I've never heard before."

Danny starts a web browser and logs in, types into the bottom input bar. _Hello Pinky. The music you played to save Emily, can you put it in a playlist please?_

The text box doubles in height to show her reply. _Emily's account. Killer tracks._

"Princess, can we listen to your phone, the killer tracks playlist?"

~~~

Laura finishes her wine. "I'm heading to bed. Have you been shown your room Buzz?"

"I have thank you Laura. I think I'll do the same. I expect we'll have a busy day tomorrow going over all the designs you've done. Goodnight all." He stands, his ankle now better. "Is Mattie in the workshop?"

~~~

They find Mattie, Leo and Danny doing some energetic dancing.

"Hi Mum!"

"What on earth is this?"

"Rage against the machine."

"We're off to bed."

Mattie looks from Buzz to her mother and back.

"Our own beds."

"Good. For a second.."

"Haha Mats. No."

"You never know these days."

Buzz chuckled, "I've had three wives, girlfriends, I think I'll leave the romance to my new body." He nods towards the build machine. "Apart from checking your necks can still keep your heads on with aggressive dancing what are you kids up to?"

"Building a dedicated archive server. Network Attached Storage. NAS."

"Network attached storage archive? I like that acronym."

"Eh? Oh! Yeah! You'll be the first in the archive when it's running."

"I don't need to be first. Sometimes second is best. Sure I've had my dark periods after finishing with NASA, but look at all the things I've got since. I get the second chance Neil can never have."

~~~

[Chapter-97](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-97-1)


	97. Chapter 97

Danny woke early Sunday and went downstairs to get a coffee together, found Mattie and Toby in the kitchen. "I thought I'd be the first up."

Mattie yawns. "Two days in a row. My sleep pattern better not be permanently adjusted or I'll hate uni life when I go back. Your Dad and Dozer have been busy."

"What d'you mean?"

"One of the James helped with construction."

"Of?"

"A second shaft. Mind how you go around the back of the workshop. It's roped off but would be easy to fall into. And Dozer says the design is all welded up, you just need to wind the coils, said you'd know what he meant?"

"Design?"

"Not yours then?"

"I have no idea."

"Don't wake them, let them sleep."

"Where are they?"

"On the sofas."

"I thought they were just here to drop Miley into the shaft? They've been here all night? I'd seen Dozer start loading up the low loader."

"They'd just finished with the forklift."

"Crap. I need to treat them. They go above and beyond those two."

Toby picks up his mug. "Shall we go check out Miley?"

"Got torches?"

Mattie smiles. "You won't need them. There's lights down the staircase. Safety lights they rescued from a site clear up. And construction site safety rails."

Danny gives her a confused look. "You spoke to Dad?"

"Before bed, yeah."

"And you didn't say?"

"Spoilers? You'd have been awake all night. He wanted you to get some sleep first in case you decided to do the coils all night and electrocute yourself."

"I would have. The first bit."

~~~

As they're entering the corridor Emily comes down the stairs, yawns. "There you are. When did you get up?"

"Minutes ago Princess. Want a coffee? Mattie says we should check out Miley."

Emily smiled. Danny used _we_ so much. Not just I and my. "Sure Babes."

He races back into the kitchen to make one.

Mattie gives her a smile. "Keeper."

"Defo Babes! Leo and Mia still sleeping?"

"Yeah. Well Leo is, I can't speak for Mia."

Toby nods, "Still sleeping."

Danny returns with a coffee. "Shall we then?"

Leo runs down the stairs. "Shall we what?"

"Morning Leo. We're going for a walk."

~~~

Danny leads the group down the circular staircase. "This handrail is good. The stuff firms throw away is verging on criminal."

"I like the storm proof lights Babe. Nice and bright. LED?"

"It looks like it. Oh. My. God!"

Miley was sat in a massive lower bearing. Bent steel plates were leaning against the wall, ready to be put in place to cover it.

"A late Happy Birthday present Babes. Miley the BB8 lookalike. Hope you like it."

Emily had taken his design for the bike wheel linear motor and turned it horizontal, made a design that looked just like the toy charge base. And there was a generator design on the top bearing also waiting to be given coils. A cover that looked like BB8's head.

"Like it? Emily I love it!"

"Good. I'll get a load of paint and we can paint her up while you wire."

"I'll need to order in some heavy duty varnished wire. We can paint her during the week."

"Okay Babes. What are we doing today then?"

"Finishing our NASA code install and getting it online. I'll be getting Alfie to print up a drive enclosure. Mattie and David want backups of everyone in there ASAP. Then more boards for two and three, a mix of chilling out and talking Sky Lift designs with our five experts. It is Sunday after all."

"A lot of that is Alfie printing and milling on his own isn't it?"

"Yeah. So apart from code a lot of chilling Princess. What are you doing Mattie?"

"Me? Taking Buzz to the airport and buying luggage for Sophie and Renie."

"Already?"

"He's going to take a lake Simon short term until the build machine is done. That way he can make all his commitments in America without being missed."

"Sneaky."

"A bit. Good for us though."

"When's Miami returning?"

"Next weekend. She's waiting for a Rocket to be built."

"A rocket? Oh! She and Ron.."

"Yeah."

Danny looks at Leo, "Giving him a lake body, is that wise?"

"It's fine. They're all being wiped. Military grade wiped. The only thing they remembered was waking in the lake. It's better to give them a fresh start. All new code."

"If you want to employ some as lab technicians.."

Mattie raises eyebrows, "Nice idea! We'll need help making all sorts of stuff. Some could be nurses for Fred too."

"Have you heard from them? Either them?"

"Yeah. I woke up to see a message from Fred one. Emily your Dad's got company in the cyborg group. Fred's given one of the victims a synth hand after he lost his with the explosions."

"Nice one Fred. And the other group?"

"Liverpool? They're all set up, talking to David about what to do."

Leo frowns, "You didn't say?"

"It's on the HECLS intranet if any of you can be bothered to read it. Otherwise I spend all of my time repeating myself."

"Sorry. Noted."

"HELLO!"

They all look skyward.

Toby's eyes adjust to the light first. "It's a James. WHAT'S UP MATE?"

"ANY CHANCE OF SOME POWER PLEASE?"

~~~

[Chapter-98](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-98-1)


	98. Chapter 98

The David inside the fake Hobb synth got woken by shaking in the real world. He opens his eyes. It was the prison guard. "Hello?"

"Thought you'd died. Couldn't feel a pulse."

"I'm good. Weak heart, sometimes it's hard to find."

"Your breakfast is there."

David looks at the tray. "Thanks."

"Thanks? You actually enjoy that slop?"

"It does the job."

"What are you picking today? Wash or exercise?"

"Exercise."

"I'll see you later then."

David watches the door close and hears the keys turn. He wolfs down the food. Plate placed by the door he gets back on the bed and closes his eyes. He reappears in their virtual world.

Poppy smiles. "That was quick."

"There's little point hanging around in there. Nothing else to do or see. I'm taking the exercise option today, pretending to get some fresh air."

"And the rest of the day?"

"What would you like to do?"

"I was thinking we could build a new island."

"England or small tropical island sized?"

Poppy laughs, "England? Your head isn't big enough. A small paradise island silly."

"Good. I'm also going to experiment with pulsing my fluid pump, see if I can fake a physical heartbeat the guard can detect."

"Why?"

"He was worried I was dead."

~~~

Emily grinned massively.

So much so Mattie couldn't ignore it. "Ems?"

"I've thought of a new tattoo design. Super simple."

"Full sleeve again?"

"This is for my finger."

"Finger? Like a slogan or something?"

"You know those 118 adverts on the TV, two vertical black lines?"

"Yes?"

"That simple. One thin black rectangle. On my middle finger."

"Why?"

"Up yours to C4. The climate change one not TV channel. Maybe we should call it 4C not C4? Or it could be the ribbon for Sky Lift. _And_ it's my favourite character on the keyboard."

"Ah.. The Power of The Pipe. I don't think I'd be such a wizard with Linux command lines without it."

"Me neither. Sed, awk, grep, xargs, I'm a pipe ninja."

"Are you going to get Owen to do it?"

"Yeah."

"Can he do one for me too?"

"Sure Babes! Come over tonight. We can have some fun in the basement."

~~~

Danny and Leo enter the workshop with fibre patch leads to hook up NASA1.

Mattie grins. "I'm getting inked. By Owen."

Leo looks concerned. "Where?"

"On my middle finger. I might get a Quibe design too."

"A what?"

"Check out Instagram. Q u i b e. Link in their bio. Their one line designs are the dogs bollocks."

Leo closes his eyes. "Nice! Which one?"

"Kiss 2015. Or One Line Nude."

"Where would you have it?"

Mattie lifts an arm. "Down my side here." She has a wicked thought, "And I was thinking of getting the underside of my boobs done. Where only you'll see it. One saying Property Of, the other Leo Elster."

Leo has a good laugh, "That's definitely a joke. You'd never accept being thought of as property. Either of you."

Emily bites her lower lip. "Hnnn."

Mattie watches her drawing a line under each breast with a finger. "Ems?"

"I belong with, Danny Candlin. Belong with doesn't imply property in the same way does it?"

Mattie grins, "I belong with, Leo Elster. Do you think Owen would do that?"

"Yeah Babes. Just wear a bikini top a bit high. Or a vest top."

Danny shakes his head. "If you're being a bunch of jokers I'm having one done too. PTO."

"Babes?"

"Please Turn Over. Lettered upside down on my lower back. For when I'm being a clumsy sod and falling over or flat on my face."

Leo hands his patch leads to Danny and sits down. "Can I borrow your iPad Emily?"

"Sure hun, pen too?"

"Please. What's the best app for doing line art?"

"Pro Create."

"Procreate?"

"Pro. Create."

"Oh. Of course." He finds the app, picks a pen size and moves the pen to the four corners repeatedly.

"What are you doing?"

"Calibration."

"Of yourself?"

"Yes." He closes his eyes and recalls Mattie dancing in the VKS, finds the best moment and draws a continuous one line drawing. Eyes open he smiles, happy with the results. "Do you think Owen could reproduce that? I want it on my side. So Mattie's always by my side no matter what."

Emily is stunned. "Wow."

He turns to see Mattie, tears were running down her face. "Angel?"

"Is that how you see me?"

"Yes. Have I upset you?"

She shakes her head the once. "Forget love letters or poems. That's the most beautiful thing anyone's done for me. Of me."

Danny finishes connecting the board to the building LAN. "Let's see?"

Leo holds up the tablet.

"Mate! Forget PTO. Could you do one of Emily? As she is now before all the hair goes?"

"If you give me a pose to work with."

Emily jumps up. "A dance pose Dan?"

"You know the one."

Emily gets into position a few meters away, bends forwards, lets all her hair drop in front. "When I start to say now, that's what Danny wants."

"Okay?"

She stands and flicks hair in one fluid movement, "Now!"

Leo turns back to the iPad, "How do I start a new drawing without accidentally wiping this one of Mattie?"

"Let me hun."

"Thanks."

Eyes closed he draws again.

"Bloody hell mate. That's getting me hot already!"

Emily giggles, "Where are you having it?"

"You've got D in a heart on your sleeve. I'll have this right over my heart."

"You'll need your chest waxing first."

"Crap. Okay. Go get some wax strips. The two of you can have a laugh inflicting pain."

~~~

[Chapter-99](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-99-1)


	99. Chapter 99

Laura helps Mia make some sandwiches for lunch. "Do you know what's going on upstairs?"

"No?"

"We've got excellent sound proofing yet every few minutes I could hear Daniel shouting Fuck. Like he was in great pain."

"Pain?"

"Like having a tooth pulled without anaesthetic."

"I'm sorry Laura, I can't comprehend pain like that."

"If child birth is ten, teeth pulling is probably eight."

"I'm sorry, that doesn't help."

Buzz enters the kitchen. "I'm all packed."

"Oh. Let me go find Mattie. Um.." She hands the knife to Mia. "Sorry, Mum's taxi duty calls. Where's Toby?"

"Having a swim in the lake with Odi."

"Odi?"

"He's doing a test sweep of his own."

Laura leaves to find Mattie.

A Simon steps into the kitchen once she's through the door. "You weren't thinking of leaving without saying goodbye to yourself were you Buzz?"

David and Poppy enter the kitchen. "We thought you might like to see proof that your backup is good."

Buzz was a bit dumbstruck. "What do I call me? Buzz?"

"That'll do. Or Junior."

"Don't you dare start calling me Dad! Give me a fact nobody else knows."

Simon Buzz turns to see Mia, smiles, "Since we have such a beautiful moon fan with us. Everyone goes on and on about me being second to step on the moon. Neil was the Commander of the Apollo 11 mission, why would I go first? I thought, as he stepped out, they say the moon's made of cheese, fill your boots. Just don't eat so much we can't get the lunar module back up."

Mia smiles warmly. "I'm going to make a crescent moon quiche in your honour then."

"Filling?"

"What would you recommend?"

~~~

Laura bangs on the door after hearing another scream. "ARE YOU IN THERE MATTIE?"

"YES!" Seconds later Mattie opens the door.

Laura sees Daniel tied to the bed with twisted up sheets. "What the bloody hell are you up to?"

Danny laughs, "It's not what it looks like. I'm having my chest waxed."

"Why?"

"I'm having a tattoo tonight."

"That's nice. Mattie, Buzz is packed and ready to go, he's just saying goodbye to himself."

"You what?"

"David's got him in a Simon already."

"Awesome! Sorry Dan, got to go, I'll have to leave you in the hands of the wicked princess.

"No! Don't leave meeee!" He has a good laugh. "If any man wants to see the evil streak in his lady a waxing is the perfect way to bring it out!"

Emily steps to the door, snaps the wrists of her latex gloves. "The patient will talk eventually. After a lot of screaming. Muhahaha." She winks. "See you in an hour or so?"

~~~

Leo disconnected the uncased NASA1 and powered it off. The network connectivity test had worked. With Danny being stripped of chest hair upstairs and Mattie going to the airport with Buzz he had time to do something useful. Alfie had printed the chassis the parts would go in, was now printing drive caddies. He gets a screwdriver and fits the power supplies and fans to the back. He wonders what Max was up to. They did a lot together years ago. Climbing trees was a favourite.

Next he routes all the SATA cables and finds a drive, checks for orientation of the plug. The first one is put in place and a screw added to lock it into position. One down. Sixty three to go. The thing would be very heavy when fully loaded. Danny had thought about that, had designed the chassis with a hole that ran left to right at the bottom. A section of rebar from his father Frank's come in handy store had been hammered through. No way would it sag in the middle when bolted into the rack with the network switch.

As he got the second plug in place his phone rings. His face lit up as he answered the call. "Maxie! Were your ears burning? Yes, I'm in the workshop putting something together for Danny. Yes, we're good, considering. We had a group of them hiding in the lake. Yes. Under the water out of sight. Twenty five! I'm serious. Yes. Massive battery weights. And I mean massive. One grabbed Mattie but I managed to get her free. Good, excellent news. You'll be traveling for hours then. Best of luck. Don't let the airline insist you power down for the flight. Enjoy some movies. You too, good to hear your voice. How are Flash and Fred? Good. Say hello for me then. You've missed a crazy few days, we'll have to share memories when you're back. Enjoy the flight." The call ends. "Little Max. Assistant surgeon. Who'd have thought."

~~~

The door clicks and Mia takes a step inside, "Leo, lunch is ready."

"Thanks, I've just heard from Max, they're flying to Australia to help the people on the east coast."

"How are they?"

"Good, just boarding the flight."

~~~

[Chapter-100](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-100-1)


	100. Chapter 100

Mattie and Laura returned to HECLS House after their hour and a half round trip. With two new Modobags. Sophie and Renie were waiting at the entrance.

"Frig. Odi must have told them we've arrived."

"There goes our chance to surprise them."

~~~

Buzz checked his watch. He'd be there soon. Mattie had given him a hug at the Departure gate, said her goodbyes, looked sad. He'd reminded her that he was now in two places at once, they could talk again soon. As soon as she and Laura had left he headed to the Heathrow Express. Not a flight. He'd told a little fib about the departure time. He had an appointment with Doctor Arakawa to have Neural Lace fitted. He was now in a synthetic body and original. No way was the original going to miss out on all the fun. Neural Lace had many thousands of beta testers according to the advertising material he'd read on the flight out. Doctor Cindy Bexley had perfected the technology that let man interface to machine. Without the drastic surgery Leo had undergone. The doctor would make a small hole and insert a mesh, the lace, that would be gently opened out to wrap around his brain. Over time his brain would learn to communicate via the lace to the compute block it would be wired to.

There could be numerous applications for it. He'd been told about the work Fred was doing. If someone suffered spinal cord damage the thing could create a link between thoughts and a powered external skeleton. He'd rubbed shoulders with many of the Star Trek cast over the years. The Borg had been portrayed as evil drones of the Borg Queen. Reality would be very different.

~~~

Sophie raced along the corridor, banked hard at the bottom of the stairs and headed back for doors. "Thanks Mattie!"

"If you and Renie come with me, Leo and Miami to America you can have a long ride around the airport."

"Please!"

Toby and Mia were sat on the fifth step out of the way.

"Did you get to try one Mia?"

"No Toby."

"Ask for a go."

"It's okay. I'll wait for something bigger."

"Bigger?"

"The bike. Odi received a box for Daniel. From the sender's address it would appear to be water jet parts."

"On a Sunday? Who delivers on a Sunday?"

Mia turned to face him and smiled.

"Oh. You do. The forks of Mamma Mia."

Mia frowns for a second, then her face lit right up. "They have tickets! Can we? Please Toby!"

"Tickets?"

"Mamma Mia! Please!"

"You want to go see the musical?"

"Yes!"

"Um. Okay. Let's have an afternoon in the city then."

"What should I wear?"

"Um. Clothes?"

She gives him a peck on the cheek. "You're already in enough trouble over 212 Toby Hawkins, don't start." She got up to go upstairs and change.

Toby grinned like a much younger boy. He was in trouble. A good sort of trouble. A very tiring sort of trouble. "Maybe we need a chaperone then? What are Nis and Astrid doing this afternoon?"

"Coming with us."

"You can't have asked them already?"

Astrid sniggers.

Toby turns to see them both sat higher up the stairs. "Oh. What were you doing?"

"Watching you two. Mia One and you. Toby 212."

Niska smiles. "Mia One and you. Toby 212. That's got a nice rhythm, it sounds like a line from a song. Or poem. How is your rhythm Toby?"

Toby starts going red.

Niska stands, "Your heart rate is rising."

"You think? Jesus. Am I going to be allowed to forget?"

"Never. Come on. Up you get. Pick the most elegant clothes you have."

~~~

Leo heard the door lock click and turned to see Mattie entering. "Traffic was light then."

"Yeah, a lot of people must be away on holiday. How's it going?"

Leo shook his head. "I should have numbered all of the ends of the cables before I started. I'm having to use the meter to work out which is which."

Mattie grabs the black cable. "I'll do one end you do the other."

"Thanks. If we can start from one again just to be sure."

"Okay. Have you seen Danny and Emily?"

"They went for a walk and chat about her look. She's worried about being recognised after her court appearance."

"She shouldn't have to change."

"We all know that. She's thinking of just having half sleeves now, going back to her original hair colour. And a pixie crop."

"She looks good with that hair style."

The door lock clicks. They both turn to look.

Odi enters with a long flat heavy box. "Another delivery for Daniel. I'll put it on his shelf."

Mattie smiles, "Thanks Odi. How was the lake? Did you enjoy your swim?"

"I did thank you Mattie. The lake is clear. Frank and Dozer are asking if they might have a bit of lunch taken too them?"

"Sure, they're welcome to help themselves though."

"They are caked in mud. I feel toast and apricot would not satisfy their hunger."

"Mud?"

Leo drops the red meter lead. "Let's make some sandwiches and go see."

~~~

Danny turns at the sound of a fox. "Do you think that could be a descendant of the fox Fred fixed?"

"Could be Babes. I like Fred. It's a shame he doesn't have anyone, he always looks a little lonely."

"He'd need someone with similar interests, someone to keep him stimulated mentally. Where would you find someone like that? Synth partner wanted. Must like classical music, learning languages, football.."

"A dating site."

"Do they let synths on now?"

"Sure. How d'you think he'd react to a blind date?"

"No idea. Know someone do you?"

"No. But we could go looking for him?"

Danny stopped and wrapped his arms around her. "You have a look Princess, this afternoon. Have you made your mind up about the ink?"

"I have. I'll draw it up. Owen won't need to do it for a while."

~~~

Mattie slices the sandwiches and puts them in folded sheets of kitchen paper in case their hands were dirty. "Buns, have we got any bottles of water in the fridge?"

"I'll check."

Odi frowns, "Unknown car entering the drive. Requesting James One.."

"Stop! Don't frighten them off."

"But they could be hostile Leo."

"They could. But we have to assume they're not. Have James on standby, go see who it is."

Odi leaves the kitchen.

"Was I too harsh on him Angel?"

"Maybe your tone could have been a little softer. The message was spot on. HECLS are going nowhere if we treat people as potential enemies."

Leo gets a bump from Odi. "It's a damaged synth, they want our hospital services."

"Shit. The Freds are away and we've got all the rooms full."

"I'll call him, see if he's okay with us restoring his backup into one of our collection."

"If he agrees and it's a Charlie let Nis know first so she doesn't freak out. Will he need assistants? I can help."

"You want to be restored into a synth body?"

"I meant in the flesh. I have done a few repairs. And David might be able to help."

"Okay. You take the sandwiches to Frank and Dozer, I'll go talk to Dad and open up the medical room."

~~~

[Chapter-101](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-101-1)


	101. Chapter 101

Odi looked at the damaged synth on the back seats. She had a lot of clingfilm wrapped around her torso to try and keep the fluid in. He looks at the driver and bumps. A second later he relays the information to Leo.

~~~

Leo finds his father and Poppy in the living room, both were reading. "Sorry Dad, we've got an injured synth coming in, can you help?"

David drops the magazine on the coffee table, "So much for a relaxing Sunday. Damage?"

Leo bumps.

"Not good. A Sally model eh?"

~~~

Niska and Astrid come down the stairs in their elegant gowns to find a number of people in the corridor.

The driver of the car looked distraught with grief as the injured synth is carried into the room by Odi. "My.. sister.. will she be okay? Can you mend her?"

Niska sees the spots of synth fluid that had dripped all along the corridor floor. "Your sister?"

The synth looks pained. And ashamed.

Niska gently pulls Astrid close for a good passionate kiss, then looks back at the synth. "Your sister?"

"Girlfriend."

"What happened?"

"We were on a boat, another crashed into ours."

David takes her hand, "Come and talk a moment, we have a few options. Do you have HECLS cover?"

"We took it out on Friday."

"Good for you! That gives you another option."

~~~

Toby did the dress zip up for Mia. "God you look good."

"Isn't the phrase Good enough to eat?"

He groans, "Don't you start."

"Don't you enjoy it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I do. Anything that makes you happy makes me happy. But.. do we have to talk about it so much?"

"I'm sorry Toby."

~~~

David sits, pats the cushion. "I'm David. And you are?"

"Caroline."

"Since you have cover, and we had a few.. donations, we could do a fast fix. We back up your Sally.."

"Sally-Anne."

"Sally-Anne, and restore her into a new body."

"A brand new body?"

"Second owner then. In mint condition. With a lifetime warranty."

"I didn't think that could be done."

'I am David Elster.'

'But you're..'

'A synth like you now.' "Backup and restore. Or dozens of skin pack scars that will take months to fade. The choice is yours. Unless Sally-Anne is able to decide for herself?"

"I had to power her down, she was losing fluid too fast."

"Then do you have the permission to choose on her behalf?"

"I do. It's in our plans."

"You're well prepared then. Your choice?"

"New body please."

~~~

Buzz came around with a pounding headache, something covering his eyes. The tube down his throat was most uncomfortable.

"He's awake."

"Good, good. Mr Aldrin, it went well, hold very still and we'll get you cleaned up."

~~~

Mattie found the two men at the bottom of the Miley shaft. They were caked in clay. Dozer looked more like something from a Disc World novel than a human. They'd cut a doorway in the wall and had been tunnelling. "Where's all the dirt going?"

"James is disposing of it."

"Where?"

"At the bottom of the lake."

"Will it make the lake rise?"

"He's done the maths. Given the size of the lake, maybe a couple of inches or so?"

Mattie looks at their hands. "I'll pour a little water, wash your hands under it."

~~~

Danny and Emily get to the HECLS House end of the lake to see James walking out of the water with a huge wire basket.

He turns to see them both. "Hello!"

Danny frowns, "You won't catch any fish in there I don't think."

"There are no fish. Maybe there should be?"

"We could add some. So why were you in there?"

"I'm helping your father with the tunnelling."

"It's Sunday! He should be home relaxing with Mum!"

"He says his wife and Cindy are at a clothes show."

"Oh."

They follow James to the shaft.

~~~

Laura finds Sophie, Renie and the astronauts in the kitchen, all sat around the island watching Snowy tuck into some cat food. "Girls, have any of you seen Michael?"

Sophie nods, "He's on the roof painting."

"Did it need painting?"

"Not the roof silly. Painting a _picture_."

"Oh. Of?"

"I'm not allowed to say."

~~~

Buzz sits up. "If you could give me the block, manual and some pain killers, I'll work it all out on the flight home in a few hours."

"Hours? Sir you can't fly for at least a couple of weeks."

"I'll be fine."

"We really would advise against it."

"It was keyhole surgery wasn't it?"

"Yes but.."

"I'll be fine. I'll not connect up until I land safely."

Doctor Arakawa shakes his head. "I'll give you the number for a specialist in New York. If you have any issues call them. Any issues no matter how insignificant they may feel."

"Thank you."

~~~

Daniel watches James Two come down the circular stairs with a mass of timber, shuttering and thick flexible pipe. "Dad?"

"The concrete lorry will be here soon. We need to build a shell ready to pour in from the top."

"What's the pipe for?"

"That goes up at the top. So we can pump the next section when the first is set."

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"Our heads. Reverse inheritance from a maker son."

~~~

[Chapter-102](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-102-1)


	102. Chapter 102

To give Sally-Anne a more suitable experience David got the spare wiped and cleaned up in the workshop, into a bath robe and into the medical room. He made a mental note to order more trolley beds. Carrying her in his arms while Poppy held the doors wasn't professional.

He sets her down on the operating table. "Caroline, can we leave you to strip Sally-Anne, we'll have her clothes washed ready for her new body."

"Could you please?"

David turns to see Poppy. "Would you mind dear?"

~~~

Mattie, Leo, Emily and Danny left the three to get on with construction, climbed the many steps back up to the surface.

Emily's phone chimes. A text from someone at Uni. "Cool! Danny Babes, that watch you stopped using, it's a Pebble Time isn't it?"

"It is."

"William says he's found a group doing an open source alternative rebble.io also based on FreeRTOS."

"Sweet! I was really pissed when I backed the Pebble Core then they pulled the plug, sold all their IP to Fitbit. Is it usable or in development?"

"His message says development."

"If they're doing an open source firmware maybe we could make DCL watches to run it? Put a bigger battery in it for a start."

"And Matilla and I might be able to help with some code?"

"Leo and I won the jackpot with you two. Smart, sexy, fun and coders."

"Aww Babes, you're making me blush."

"It's the truth though."

Mattie turned briefly to see Leo, got a smile and mimed word. Truth?

~~~

Poppy opens the door and looks into the hall. "David, can you get these washed?"

He takes them from her. "Is she covered? The old she?"

"She will be by the time you return. A forty degree fast wash please."

~~~

In the lab Leo finds a pile of black clothes, picks them up and drops them into a bin. "Dad was never the tidiest of people."

Mattie picks up the meter cable. "Shall we see if we can get this finished Bunny?"

"Dan, I've got the SATA drive ends all in, the power cables all daisy chained. If Mattie and I work out which data cables are which do you want to fit drives into caddies?"

"You didn't number the cables first?"

"No. I won't make that mistake again."

~~~

David returned to the corridor to find Caroline waiting. "I checked the labels, they're all made from synthetic materials, they'll dry quickly. Would you like to come in or wait in the living room?"

"The living room if I may?"

He shows her in. "Everyone, this is Caroline, she's waiting for her partner Sally-Anne to be operated on, would you mind if she sits with you?"

Spider smiles, "Kittens, Ladies, the more the merrier I'd say, even up the ratio. I'm Spider, these gentlemen are Buzz, Rocket, Wrench and Maverick. And these young ladies are Sophie and Renie. The cat's Snowy."

Caroline gave Snowy a warm smile. "I've never seen a real kitten before. Only photographs."

Sophie shifted sideways, "Sit between us, I'll put him on your lap."

The synth did as asked, looked a little nervous. Sophie placed him on her lap, he turned and started climbing up her top. "Snowy!" She grabs him. "He doesn't normally get his claws out. Lets try something else. Put your hands together so he can sit in them."

Again Caroline does as asked.

Sophie places him in the middle. "If he looks like he wants to jump don't panic, I'll grab him."

Caroline raises her hands and gets the kitten up close to her face. He rubs noses with her.

Renie takes a close up photo of the two. "He likes you. That's a friendship gesture."

Caroline turns her head a little to return the gesture. "He's so small."

"He's growing fast though."

Snowy turns around in her palms and lies down facing her and purrs.

"Isn't he adorable. Are they hard to look after?"

Sophie shakes her head, "Not really. Cuddles, food and water, somewhere nice to sleep. He sleeps on our bed at the moment."

~~~

David looked at the backup data. "Do you think I should delete the memories of the accident?"

Poppy got beside him. "The moments leading up to it, no. The moment she was injured and anything after, yes."

David started an application to work through her root code and fact store. "This will be the most time consuming part. Unpicking the highly meshed data that is consciousness."

~~~

Mattie had a fine wire on the end of her meter lead, was working through the connectors. Leo's ends were loose, so it was easier for him to connect to one cable end, her then scan through all of the mounted connectors in the chassis backplane. "Good. That one's forty eight."

Leo wrote the number onto the cable with a Sharpie. "If we were low on space on all the laptops, he's taken a Sally from here, how's Dad doing a backup and restore?"

"No idea. He must have deleted one."

"I wonder who's?"

"Ask him."

Leo closes his eyes for a second. "He says he had two for Spider, two for your professor, he's deleted the older one, just kept the newest for each."

~~~

A very dirty Dozer shoved the pipe into the top of the cast. "Ready boss."

Frank stepped close to Miley and flashed a torch. Seconds later concrete began to flow.

~~~

Buzz did up his shoe laces and looked in the mirror. "Ready."

The nurse hands him a bottle of tablets. "No more than eight a day. One or two as needed with food."

"Understood."

"Good luck."

"Thank you."

She opened the door and waited, "Let us know how you get on with the block. You're our oldest patient to date."

"I will my dear."

~~~

He's half way down the stairs when a lady in a red dress takes the first step. "Mattie?"

She doesn't respond, keeps climbing, earbuds in her ears and music playing.

"Mattie!"

Still nothing.

As they're close to passing he puts a hand out. "Mattie!"

She stops and takes an earbud out. "Sorry?"

"Mattie, what are you doing here?"

"Mattie? I'm Ruby, you have me confused with someone else."

"You're not Mattie Hawkins?"

"Who?"

"Going out with Leo Elster, David Elster's son?"

"David Elster, the man behind the synths? I've had to keep well away from them. Not her, sorry. If you've had lace fitted I expect your eyes are a bit blurry."

"I can see perfectly. The likeness is uncanny."

She smiles, "I may be several people but Mattie Hawkins isn't one of them."

Buzz looks dumbfounded. "Several?"

"Um.. a joke. Sorry. I'm not her. Phone her, you'll see it's not me that answers."

"I.. I'll take your word for it. Ruby you say?"

"Ruby. Just like my stone."

Buzz looks at her chest, the massive ruby stone nestled at the top of her cleavage. "That's a real ruby?"

"It is."

"That's quite a gem. Someone loves you a lot."

"They do indeed. Enjoy the rest of your day."

~~~

[Chapter-103](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-103-1)


	103. Chapter 103

'Caroline?'

'Yes David?'

'Are you sitting comfortably?'

'I have a kitten licking my nose but otherwise yes.'

'Can you give him back to Sophie and tell me when you're seated and ready?'

'One moment.. Okay?'

The door opens and Sally-Anne rushes in. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She plants a kiss on Caroline's lips.

"Why.."

"You were the one that convinced me to take out a joint policy with you. How damaged was I?"

David enters the room followed by Poppy. "We prefer to say injured. Very. Not that different to another synth we've seen with abdominal area issues."

Sally-Anne looks down at her belly, the belly top she wore made it easy for all to see. "Oh. I've lost the clip on belly ring you got me. And my ring."

"One moment!" David races from the room.

~~~

Sally-Anne's old body had been wrapped up and stored away with Miaz where she wouldn't be seen, again power cell disconnected. He undoes the binding and checks both hands. One ring is removed. Her abdomen was a mess. Lots of torn skin, some of which had been pushed inside. He pulls up his sleeve and has a feel inside. Nothing. It could easily have dropped off or further down inside. Bugger. He leaves the small store cupboard and closes the door. "Can you make sure nobody goes in there please?"

Mattie looks up. "Sure." She looks back down. "That one's sixty three."

Leo smiles, "Which makes the other one thirteen. Done. Danny, do you want to install drives and test here or when it's racked?"

"Here, I want to stress test it for twenty four hours before we set RAID up on it."

David steps to their desks. "Has anyone seen Fred's x-ray device?"

Mattie focuses on sliding a drive into the chassis, "Odi boxes it up and shipped it out to Fred."

"Blast."

"What do you need it for?"

"Sally-Anne's lost her belly thing. Probably cheap enough to replace but these things have sentimental value. It's either fallen off or inside."

Emily returns from the toilet and sits down.

Mattie looks at her friend. "Um.. Ems?"

"Yes Babes?"

"You've done synth repair with me. If we got some latex gloves and sheets and taped your arm up could you use your dainty hand to have a fish around in a synth?"

"Um.. yeah. Why?"

"Sally-Anne's lost her belly piercing."

"Clip on." David smiles.

"Sure babes."

~~~

Five minutes later Emily had a third of an arm in the dead synth. "I think I can feel it. It feels like it's caught behind the fluid pump inlet."

David points, "So around here?"

"Yeah."

"Pull your arm out a bit." He waits then slides a long surgical tool in, twists and pulls. "Try now."

Emily gets her arm back in. "One mo.. got it!" She pulls the thing out and drops it into the tray of water. "If that's not cut glass it's worth a Deutsche Mark or two!"

David gives it a good swirl and drops it onto a paper towel. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see that again. Thanks ladies." He races away.

~~~

Toby showed the barcodes for their electronic tickets. "There's four of us."

"Thank you sir, enjoy the show."

"Thanks. Mamma Mia will that's for sure."

"The cast always enjoy the show sir?"

"Good, good." He turns to see the three ladies. "Mia, Niska, Astrid, got everything?"

Niska waves a program and lemonade. "Ready Toby."

The theatre manager who was having to stand in for one his sick staff waves them through.

~~~

Sally-Anne turns at the sound of David running into the room and sees his outstretched hand. "You found them! Thank you so much." She takes the ring and slips it on, goes to clip the jewellery on. "Why weren't synthetic belly buttons made as good as a humans? It keeps falling off."

David looks at Poppy. "Can I take a close look?"

Sally-Anne answers not realising the question wasn't actually for her. "If you wouldn't mind?"

Poppy nods.

He gets to his knees and examines it. "Would you rather a piercing?"

"Won't that cause me to leak fluid and break sensor wires?"

"Not there. Not if it's done properly."

"The piercing shop said it couldn't be done."

"They don't know as much as I do then. Would you like it done now? You'd need the clip changed on your diamonds."

Sally-Anne twists hard and pulls on it. "Like that?" She opens her hand to show the clip removed, a stud end.

"Oh. Dual fitting?"

"They charged a lot for that clip."

"Keep it and get a refund."

"And show them it can be done? I'd rather send my friends here."

Poppy smiles. 'An unexpected business opportunity for you.'

'Me? I could teach you how to do it, it's not rocket science.'

'If you get me one to wear myself.'

David swallowed hard, a reflex he wished he could forget without hacking his own memory. 'Okay dear.' He looks up at Sally-Anne. "If you and Caroline could follow me then please. You too Poppy."

~~~

[Chapter-104](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-104-1)


	104. Chapter 104

Buzz sat in the departure lounge and wished his headache would get moving a bit faster and go away. One hour twenty two and counting and he'd be able to board the flight if the board could be trusted. He gets the pack out that the nurse had given him and opens the box. One block, a charge base, USB charge cable, lace connecting cable, mini CD and a small paper quick start guide. In print way too small to read with this headache. He slides it all back in and gets it into his bag. Act in haste, repent at leisure. Maybe he had been a bit foolish in getting it done. Too late to worry about it now. Even if he didn't use the block he still had a connector on the back of his head. And not exactly a lot of hair to hide it under.

~~~

Mia squeezed Toby's hand. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Getting us tickets."

"No probs." He checks his watch, "They're running late."

~~~

David got Sally-Anne to sit on the operating table, found one of Fred's super bright LED and a few other instruments. 'Okay Poppy. I'm telling you this so it's known only to us.'

'Okay.'

"Please relax Sally-Anne." 'A synths skin is one centimetre thick for the three centimetres above the belly button. If carefully pinched like so a suture needle can be pushed through. But before we do we place a LED light source up against the skin like so, in tight enough that the needle can enter the skin in front. Change the gain and contrast on your eyes and look up close in macro mode, you'll see the light shine through the skin, be able to see the sensor wires.'

Poppy gets closer to look as David leans sideways. 'That's clever.' She gets out of the way.

"This won't hurt a bit. Ready?"

Sally-Anne nods.

David pinches and slides the needle through so it's left both ends showing. "Now we just need to pull a thread through so we can pull the stud through."

~~~

Mattie slid the last of the drives in and gave it a little wiggle until the connectors aligned and it went in the last few millimetres. All of the cables had been attached to the control board. "Ready for launch mission commander!"

Emily hangs on Danny's shoulders, "Babes! You've made a monster."

"I bloody well hope so."

"Why three power supplies?"

"Two can support the load. If one fails we get time to do a clean shutdown and replace it. And we can route each to a different mains panel. The moment of truth. Princess, you flick number three up, Mattie you do two. Want to do one Leo?"

"It's your beast, you do it."

Emily gets fingers on the switch. "One two three go or something else?"

"That'll do. One. Two. Three. Go!"

A mass of lights come on as the drives all spin up.

Leo was watching from the front, chuckles, "We have liftoff!"

Mattie joins him, "NASA1 has cleared the tower! Awesome Dan!"

Danny puts a hand up for high fives. "Thanks everyone."

Mattie gets to her laptop. "Eh? Why's my script not returning data? The network connection is still up isn't it?"

Danny looks at the LED on the fibre interface. "Still up and showing traffic. Can you SSH to it?"

"Um.. one sec.. yes."

"Right SNMP string?"

"H three C L dollar N at S A one R O?"

"So it should work."

Mattie tries a snmpget command line tool. "Bugger. That worked. I've hosed my script."

Emily sits next to her. "What did you change?"

"I made all the things we want to collect part of a hash not individual variables."

"Let's see."

Mattie edits the script. "See."

"And where's the polling?"

Mattie pages down. "Here."

"And the checks and reporting?"

Again the code scrolls. "Here.. oh for Drummond's sake. What a frigging muppet."

"What Babes?"

"It should be snmpOID. Not snmpODI!"

Emily has a good giggle. "Had he stepped into the room with more boxes?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow's project. Water jet cutting. Right Dan?"

"Totally. Still need just the right wheels."

~~~

David pulled a length of surgical stitch cord through with the stud behind it. "On a human you'd not have the ball screwed on first, synth skin is more forgiving under light loads. There you are. What do you think?"

Sally-Anne looks down. "Okay. Do you have a mirror?"

"Caroline can bump what she sees."

A second later Sally-Anne jumps down, kisses David on the cheek. "It's even better than before. Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Is there anything else we can do for you?"

"Such as?"

"Food processor upgrades, hair dyes, ear piercings?"

"Food processor?"

"You have a policy but don't know about the food processor upgrade?"

"Which page is it on?"

"Clearly not one where it gets enough attention. When you're home check the site out in full, you're welcome to come back another time."

"Okay. Thanks again! I'm going to tell all my friends about you."

"Please do."

~~~

Mattie watched the script work. "Okay, all stats being logged. The other scripts are creating a high load. Time to go celebrate and get inked."

~~~

[Chapter-105](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-105-1)


	105. Chapter 105

The manager walked in front of the safety curtain to the middle of the stage and looked up into the bright lights. "Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to have kept you. As some of you may know the theatre employs a mix of staff from all over the globe. Staff and performers combined I think there's hardly a language not spoken by at least one. In that rich mix we have a few synthetics. They've been a welcome addition to the team. We have two who were sadly adversely impacted by the awakening, unable to get a charge. We had Mia step in with her forking, fill their rolls, learn their jobs and bring things back under control. Hubert, one of our lighting technicians, Sally our assistant sound engineer, thank you for sticking with us while Mia learnt the ropes. I suspect many in the audience will know someone who's chaos was restored by Mia. Without further ado I'd like to dedicate tonight's performance to our very special guest miss Mia Elster, the Mamma Mia. I hope you enjoy the show!"

Toby squeezes her hand. "Love you."

She squeezes back. "Did you say something?"

"Not a word, other than mention the three of your names earlier. Oh. _Mamma Mia will that's for sure_. Yeah, sorry."

"For that I forgive 212."

Toby goes to say something but stops as the curtains rise.

~~~

Emily starts the engine as Mattie and Leo climb into the back. "Pinky, party music please!"

Leo buckles up, "Angel, the others were definitely okay with it?"

"Yeah, Tobs is out with Mia, Nis and Astrid, the others are watching Apollo 13 with the five. They're going to pick it to bits I'm sure."

~~~

Wrench looks at David, 'Mind if I talk?'

'Not at all.'

'They call me Wrench because I'd read every manual going on the rockets and systems. I wanted to know everything about the tin can I was getting into. It's usual for an astronaut to want to know a fair bit of detail, I took it to the extreme. Can you do a Buzz for me? Get me into another body?'

'If you like?'

'If you can get me into half a dozen of the ones the James pulled from the lake I can get building. Assuming someone can get me materials.'

'We don't have the space.'

'Sure you do.'

'We'd need a lot of space. And have it out of sight.'

'The lake. I could make a giant canopy and create an air pocket underneath. Check out Rocket's sketches when the film's over.'

~~~

Anthymia shook the hand of the restaurant manager, "Lovely doing business with you."

"And you. One week is going to be a challenge even with your team."

"Find the HECLS House build on YouTube. You might be surprised. We'll see you at eleven thirty tonight?"

"I'll be here."

~~~

Toby sat forward ever so slightly and turned to see Mia, Niska and Astrid. ABBA songs were okay, if you liked that sort of thing. He hadn't appreciated just how much the three knew and liked them. They were singing along, knew all the words. Easy for Mia and Nis, but Astrid too? She was into dance music. When had she learnt all these songs? He sat back and listened.

~~~

Mattie snuggled up against Leo, "Ems, you've got the iPad right?"

"No Babes, it's in the workshop."

"How is.."

"Don't panic. I emailed them. Owen's studied them already."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Did you bring a vest top?"

"No."

"You can borrow one of my boob tubes. You might need to stretch it a bit."

"Are you seriously doing the belongs to?"

"Yeah Babes. It's only ink. No needles. It washes off if you want it to remember."

"Even still.."

"Babes? Are you going chicken on me?"

"Sorry. The pipe sign, sure. And Kiss 2015. That'll do me."

~~~

Something clicked in Toby's head. The writers used something like conversations or monologues, carefully tweaking the words to rhyme or fit the beat. He could use the same, write some decent poetry that he wouldn't have to hide from Mattie. He could probably buy a Best Of collection, study their work while doing other things. Sweet!

~~~

Sophie gave the five a very serious look. "Is that bit true?"

Buzz nods. "It's true. Some have called it NASA's most successful failure ever. The crew would have died without it. People think about making CO2 filters the same shape and size for everywhere now. No more different shapes for different places."

Sophie turned back to the screen. "They were very lucky."

"Always know where your duct tape is."

~~~

[Chapter-106](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-106-1)


	106. Chapter 106

The roads had been rather empty, Emily had also been speeding a little.

She parked up and let them all in. "Owen, Veronica, we're here!"

Owen leans over the banister, "I'm all set up, come on up."

Leo looked amazed. "This is your house?"

"And Owen and Veronica's. The top floor belongs to them. Come on up."

Danny knew the building, took stairs two at a time. "How's things Owen? Been out on the bike much?"

"We were out yesterday, we went to the Woodberry Down nature reserve, most peaceful for a location in London."

Danny gets to the top of the stairs. "Oh. My. God!"

"Babes?"

"The black and white photo?"

"Ah.. Mattie, Leo, um.."

Mattie ran up the last of the stairs and walked straight past it, "Nice tits. Keep walking Leo." She knew that even the shortest of glances was enough. Data instantly committed to a permanent memory. Unless you could cause a crash and reboot before it got stored in long term memory. And there was no off switch on Leo.

"I've got my eyes closed, can someone guide me?"

Mattie stopped. "Seriously?"

"From the tone of your voices I guessed it wasn't something you wanted me to see."

"It's a photo of Sandra and James. And as a Mia fork is in control you probably don't want to see." She steps back to the top of the stairs and grabs his hand. "Where now?"

~~~

The bunch of lads at school he'd labelled the _Crash and Burn_ gang would take the piss no end if they found out. Toby was actually enjoying the show. The songs had a structure he could relate to more and more.

~~~

Owen had some black electrical tape with a rectangular slot cut in it. Mattie watches him carefully apply it to Emily's finger. "This should work as a mask and keep it nice and uniform." He sprays. "If you could keep your finger like that for five minutes please Emily. Mattie, you're next."

Mattie sat and gave him the bird. Upside down so not to be rude. He taped and sprayed. She had her pipe character. "Awesome. How are you doing the Kiss design?"

"I've got a very fine air brush head for that. It will be slower but should give me a consistent line thickness. Once your finger is dry can you change please?"

"Change? Into what?"

Emily stands and goes to a set of draws. "I got a VKS but it doesn't suit me, I don't have the figure for it. It's yours."

Danny frowns, "A what?"

"Best you boys have a drink downstairs until Mattie is done."

Mattie nods. "I know how he'll react to seeing me in one again."

Emily starts stripping off. "Go on, there's cold beers in the fridge behind the bar."

As they disappear she gets her top and vest top off. "A One Line Nude if you could please dear."

~~~

Leo got half way along the hallway. "Um Dan."

"Yes mate?"

"Can you help me to the stairs?"

"You've closed your eyes again?"

"Yes."

"You don't want to see it?"

"No. When we've got a cold beer in our hands I'll explain why."

"Okay. Stay there a second and I'll take it off the wall. Do you know what they're doing?"

"No. I don't want to either."

"Done. You can open your eyes."

The frame was now on the floor leaning against the wall, back to the room.

"Thanks. Let's get a beer."

~~~

Emily sat with her right arm over her head, hand touching left ear. "You okay Babes?"

"Um.. yeah. I've not seen you topless before. In the flesh that is."

"Is it freaking you out?" She sees Mattie getting her phone out. "You're not going to photograph me are you?"

"No and No. Unless you want me to for Danny?"

"Why the phone then?"

"Pinterest. I found Amy doing a Google image search for something else, followed her. Um.. here it is."

Mattie turns the phone so she can see.

"Nice! Amy saved to My Polyvore Finds, Tibi Beige Satin Poplin Cropped Tank. Want!"

"I was thinking you could have Cindy or Barbara alter it to bring the sides down lower to show off your ink."

"It would look like a bra top then. Search for Kylie Minogue spinning around. The one were she had the gold hot pants on."

"Okay.. Yes! Someone's pinned that too." The phone is turned again.

"That's exactly what I need. Can you pin it?"

"Sure, one For Ems board coming up."

~~~

[Chapter-107](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-107-1)


	107. Chapter 107

Danny passes Leo a cold beer. "Over the shock yet?"

Leo looked around the mini basement club. "I really didn't expect to see this. Do you use it a lot?"

"Yeah. Quite a bit, when we're not with you. Owen and Veronica join us more now too. He does a mean Meatloaf impression. They crack us up. Each time they find something different for the _but I won't do that_ bit."

"They act out a scene?"

"Yeah. Spill the beans then. Why didn't you want to see the photo?"

"Do you promise you can keep a secret? Even from Emily. You know she'll talk to Mattie if she finds out."

"Sure mate. If it's that sort of a secret."

"It is."

"On my lives then. Current and future."

"I've seen Sandra naked. Designs and photos of the source woman."

" _What?_ "

"It was years before he ended things at the Estate. I was bored, hanging around outside Dad's lab. I overheard him on a call with Mary. He and George weren't on talking terms but he still wanted to know George was okay. One of the few times he cared about anyone. The shakes had started by then. I couldn't hear her side of the conversation but he said something about Men Only magazine and a white Lamborghini Countach she suspected he was drooling over. George loved his sports cars when he was younger."

"And where does Sandra fit in?"

"Two weeks after the call he covered up something fast when I came to the lab with some scones Mia had made. I snuck back at two AM and found it. The magazine, he'd got a copy. She was the naked model doing various things on or in the car. Inside the magazine he'd slid all the design data for Persona. A bit of tracing paper had an outline of her in various poses and measurements. He'd done a manual version of what our photo app does now."

"Bloody hell. That's probably what got the app started."

"I expect you're right. I think he wanted to tease George. Mia cleaned up his lab a few days later and found it, went nuts, said he couldn't copy living people like that. He phoned Persona and told them they could keep the design, not build it for ten years so the synth and model wouldn't look the same."

"Bloody hell. That explains a lot."

"What?"

"When the Sandra Mia had taken over in Zurich was in the same room as him.. there was an awkwardness that felt odd. Not a _you're hot but I don't want to admit it_ sort. Something different. Did George get to see her?"

"Probably not."

"So why don't you want to see the photo?"

"I'm told I'd be a rubbish poker player. If she spotted me looking at the photo and didn't see surprise she'd know something was up."

"So we say you saw it on the way down, you're over the shock. You can't walk around like a blind man every time you visit."

"True. It does make moving around awkward."

Danny gets his phone out. "Here's another secret to keep then. I've got a copy."

~~~

Mattie slips into the VKS, pulls it down over her jeans and undoes her bra. "How do you want my arm Owen? Like Emily did it?"

"If you could please Mattie."

~~~

Leo stares at the photo. "That's her. Down to the last detail."

"Gorgeous isn't she?"

"If you like that sort of thing. I prefer Mattie."

"And me Emily. But that doesn't make her any less attractive. Want another beer?"

"Please."

~~~

Mattie looks in the mirror Emily was now holding up. "Frigging awesome! Thanks Owen. Are you having belongs next Ems?"

"Yeah."

~~~

Sophie played with Snowy, "That was good. What can we watch next?"

Laura looks at her watch, "How about Burlesque?"

Miami does a little clap, "Please! If you don't mind me singing and dancing along to it."

~~~

Mattie watched Owen prop one end of the chaise lounge sofa up on a coffee table covered in newspaper. He put a hand out and helped Emily climb on.

She lay down with feet at the high end. "Ready Babes. Mattie, have you seen Owen's handwriting? It's really stylish."

Owen smiled, "Thank you. I belong with on my left, is it to be Daniel or Danny Candlin on the right?"

"Danny please."

"As you wish. I'm ready when you are."

Emily wriggles and gently cups the top of her breasts. "How's that?"

"That's fine. Hold still."

~~~

In what should have been only a fifteen minute intermission Toby had found himself being asked to pose with the three ladies for a lot of photos. A hell of a lot. Everyone wanted to know their names too. Quite why they wanted all four of them had been a bit of a mystery at first. He could understand people wanting a photo of Mia, or Mia and Nis. But all four? Then as they finally got to return to their seats it had dawned on him. It was the synth human interrelationship angle. He feels Mia's hand running up his thigh and places his hand on hers to stop it.

~~~

Owen finished. "All done. If you could keep that pose while it dries."

"Sure. Where's Veronica?"

"Upstairs cooking. She'll see you in a bit."

"Cool."

~~~

[Chapter-108](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-108-1)


	108. Chapter 108

Dozer jammed the pipe further in. "Ready Boss!" Seconds later concrete surged through the pipe into the wooden frame. The long formwork made an arch to support the ground above. With the accelerants the first had set in the six hours they'd used to tunnel further in. Arches two onwards would join the previous arch needing timber for only inward facing sides and end. Dozer had come up with an idea this time, welded up an attachment for the end of the feed pipe. It had a small aggregate mixer designed for a drill inside, it mixed in accelerants from a second small pipe just as the concrete passed the last few inches.

They were using salvaged rebar to strengthen the concrete. It was all bent out of shape, far from perfect. James three had done a good job of getting it nearly straight. It still did the job. It wouldn't be perfect but as it would all be encased it didn't matter. Concrete spurts out of the top of the formwork. "STOP!"

James looks at Dozer, "You better go wash that off in the lake. Time to stop anyway."

"Yeah. This lab Danny wants is going to take weeks."

"If Odi can keep watch with One during daylight hours Three and I could help dig again. And we could make a bucket lift to take the earth to the lake. Getting the dirt out is slowing us down a lot."

Dozer nods, "A vertical conveyer belt. Yeah. Like they use in mines. Shame we've not had a demo job for a coal mine, we'd have saved that sort of thing."

"Teach me how to cut and weld, find a car in a scrap yard with working engine and I'll make one. I'll need a load of scrap metal and a lot of rope."

"How much rope?"

"The bottom of the shaft to a meter above ground and from there out a good distance into the lake. Times four."

"That's a lot of rope!"

"We've got a lot of earth to move."

"I'll have a word with the boss. Does it need to be one length?"

"No. You better go have a soak before it sets solid."

Dozer looks down at his mud and concrete covered clothes. "Yeah. Better. Let's go."

~~~

Buzz relaxed into his seat, closed his eyes and willed the tail end of his headache would go away. The airline blindfold would hopefully give everyone the message that he didn't want to be disturbed.

~~~

When the end of the show came Mia found the cast applauding her as much as she applauded them. She leans sideways. "Thank you Toby!"

"You're the one that saved the day after the awakening, I just bought show tickets."

"If you hadn't ridden your bike to try and save me I might have gone back to Persona and been wiped. So indirectly this is all thanks to you."

"If you hadn't been you I might not have bothered, so it's thanks to you."

Niska leant forwards, "Stop it. It's thanks to _both_ of you. I'm hungry, were are we going for dinner? Somewhere suitably upmarket. I'm not queueing for McDonalds in this dress."

Toby shrugs, "It's Mia's evening, Mia picks."

"Medlar. If we can get a table and you can afford it?"

"Um.. I've been saving for a long time for a night like this."

Astrid smiles, "Me too. We'll go dutch."

Toby pulls out his phone. "Medlar?"

"Please."

Restaurant searched he calls. "It's ringing.. " And ringing. "Hi, I was wondering if I could make a reservation for four please? When? Today. For about half an hour from.. oh. Um.. what if I said it's for Mia Elster, saviour of the known universe and three of her friends? I'll hold." Mia looks a little bit.. annoyed? Puzzled? He couldn't work it out. "She's checking with the.. Hi. Yes. You can? Half an hour. Thanks!" He hangs up. "We need to get a taxi, quick. No hanging around for more photos."

"Toby you can't go dropping my name like that."

"Would you rather I phoned them back and say we're not coming?"

~~~

Emily got up and slipped on a short crop top jumper that dropped off one shoulder. "Owen Babes, you're a star."

"You're welcome. Veronica says she'll be finished soon."

"Ask her to meet us down there."

~~~

Toby pushes his way through the crowd, "Sorry everyone, we're dining at Medlar in just under half an hour, we have to go. I wish we could stay but we can't."

Flash lights popped as he led them through. He had Mia's hand tight, she held Astrid's who in turn held Niska's. Astrid was feeling a little claustrophobic with so many people packed into the theatre reception area.

Toby spots a cab right outside and waves. "Thank God. In you get ladies."

He pulls the door closed moments later. "Medlar please. Fastest route possible."

"Yes sir. Good show was it?"

"Yeah, really enjoyed it. And from all the singing so did my friends."

"Mamma Mia at Mamma Mia."

Toby's jaw drops, he turns to frown at Mia.

The driver sees him in the rear view mirror, laughs, "Checkout the theatre's Twitter account, they've Tweeted already."

~~~

Dozer held his breath and lazily flopped into the cold water of the lake. After getting hot and bothered and caked in dirt this was bliss. He'd need to drip dry for a while before asking if he could use a shower in their building. He rolls onto his back and rubs caked mud off his arms. "Boss?"

"Yes Dozer."

"James says he wants welding lessons, can make a bucket conveyor if we get him lots of rope, a scrap car and loads of sheet metal."

"It'll have to wait, we're fully booked for the next three weeks."

"I could sort some out after work? Or before?"

"And what does your wife do while you're doing that for days?"

"If we sort out a way to get the stuff we tunnel through out we won't be tunnelling so long. And James can get on with it while we're doing our normal demo work."

"You have a point. Let's see if the whole team can help source bits."

"Thanks boss."

~~~

[Chapter-109](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-109-1)


	109. Chapter 109

Veronica steps into Emily's small club. "Hello Danny. How are you?"

"Good thanks and you?"

"Fine thank you. This must be Leo Elster."

Leo smiles, "Hello."

Danny steps behind the bar, "What can I get you?"

"A white wine spritzer please."

"Are the ladies almost done?"

"Owen said they're on their way down. I liked the designs you did Leo, very minimalist."

"Thanks, I can't take all the credit, I was inspired by an artist Mattie likes."

Danny passes Veronica her drink. "Emily's ordering some of the Quibe prints as a way of saying thanks. She says she's going to hang them either side of that black and white print. We should get your designs printed and framed the same."

~~~

Mattie steps into the room followed by Emily. She had the VKS on over her jeans, moved her arm forwards, "Nice eh?"

Leo smiles and nods. "Kiss. It looks good."

Emily pulled her jumper up at the side, "Here's mine."

Danny gave her a lovely smile. "Totally suits you Princess. I've not seen that top before? Is it new?"

"It arrived yesterday while we were out."

"What can I get you to drink?"

"I'll sort out drinks, Owen's waiting for you."

~~~

Danny placed the photo back on the wall. "To think they're going to be my in laws. I think Mum and Dad will freak out if they see this."

"Most would."

Danny turns to see Leo checking out some of the other art on the walls. "What's the latest with Miaz?"

"Dad, the one in the Simon loaner, is in London talking to Pete."

"D'you think they'll be able to trace back to the source?"

"I have no idea."

"Want to go first?"

"I don't mind."

"I need to wash all the aloe vera off my chest. Man alive did that waxing hurt. You have Mattie VK done."

Leo studied a Rembrandt. "Mattie VK? Who called it that?"

"Emily."

"Why?"

"In case you do others of her."

"Fair enough."

"Come on then, let's do this."

~~~

Toby held the door and put a hand out to help Mia.

She takes it, "Thank you kind sir." and steps down.

"You're welcome."

He stays rooted to the spot and helps Niska out then Astrid. "Ladies, all hungry?"

Astrid smiles, "Oui Toby, très affamé."

"You can speak French too?"

"Un petit peu."

"Cool. Moi aussi. Let's grab a drink while we wait for our table."

~~~

Leo kept as still as possible as Owen traced out the line for Mattie VK. He sees Danny's hairless chest. It was still very red. "Ouch!"

"Tell me about it. I got to see Emily's dark side. I think she quite enjoyed ripping all those wax strips off."

"Couldn't they have just done the bit you're having inked?"

"And spoil their fun?"

~~~

Toby pushed the chair in for Mia as the other two sat. "Who fancies sharing a bottle of something?" He gets smiles and fluttering eyelashes from Nis and Astrid. "That's a yes from team Nistrid. Mia?"

"Yes please Toby."

He sits and with some trepidation opens the wine menu. "Oh. I was expecting prices much higher than these. Result!"

Astrid smiles, "We'll still go dutch."

"No. Tonight's on me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, yeah, use your money to have a nice lunch somewhere, just the two of you."

Niska smiles at Mia. 'He may be male and have the name Hawkins but that's where the similarities end.'

'He's a more considerate lover too.'

'Two one two?'

'Can we all stop calling him that please?'

'If we must.' "Thank you Toby."

~~~

Sophie picked up Snowy, "I'm going to bed, good night everyone."

Laura waved her over and gave her a kiss. "Sleep well potato. Remember to keep the bathroom door open for Snowy."

"Yes Mum."

Renie gets up, "I'll head to bed too then. Goodnight."

Sophie smiles, "We can watch a film. No school tomorrow."

"Okay."

~~~

David stood, "Excuse me a moment please Poppy." He turns to everyone else in the room. "Would you all mind if I wheeled in our whiteboard and got a thought off my chest?" He watches all the head shakes. "Thank you, I won't be a moment."

~~~

He races to the workshop and gets the door open, steps to the whiteboard and memorises the content, gives it a quick wipe. Red, or Daphne as Leo had called her, was sat exactly where he'd left her. It was a shame Wrench didn't want to know her just yet, it felt odd having her sit there powered down. Why though? When there were so many in the stores, bodies waiting. Why this one? What was it about her design that made it feel odd? His subconscious mind offered no answers.

~~~

Whiteboard wheeled to be in front of the television he grabs a pen. "Wrench offered an idea earlier, to put something in the lake to keep a giant air bubble at the bottom, a place to build large things out of sight." He draws a cutaway profile. "The lake is large. And deep. We have a member of the extended family who regularly has to take a lot of broken concrete and rebar away from demolition sites to be broken down and recycled. What if some of that was dropped into the lake?" He starts drawing a line along the bottom.

Michael shakes his head, "You want to fill the lake with rubbish? That doesn't sound like a responsible thing to do."

"Only partially fill. What if we used it to level off the bottom? Then on that we create a layer of reinforced concrete that runs the length and width of the bottom. The air bubble idea could be used to dry out sections enough to pour and set concrete."

"You want to build a giant concrete floor?"

"Not quite. That becomes the roof. Danny is getting an underground lab built by Frank. What if we build an underwater factory?"

"I think you've been watching too many James Bond films."

~~~

Danny and Leo walked downstairs to the basement after thanking Owen. Owen said he needed a few minutes to pack away, he'd join them in a moment.

Leo could see the design through Danny's super thin top. "Happy with it?"

"Mate! _Over the moon_. It's so.. I can't find the right words. It's minimalist yet captures her dance persona so well, so not minimalist. It's like it's two different things at once. I'm not making sense am I?"

"You see the outline and that's enough for your brain to fill in the details."

They step into the basement room to find the three having a little dance.

"Babes!" Emily jumps off the little stage and goes to her man. "How was it?"

"Good." He lifts his top. "Nice eh?"

"Aww." She gives him a kiss.

Mattie joins them, "Let's see yours then Leo?"

Leo unbuttons his shirt and pulls it aside.

"Eh? You mirrored it?"

"So we're both facing the future together."

"Aww Babes! Matilla, he's defo a keeper!"

"He is. Slight problem.."

Leo's face drops.

".. I've said yes to marrying this month. And us going to Orlando this coming weekend with Miami. When do we fit a wedding in and where?"

"What sort of service do you want?"

Mattie looks at Leo, "Bunny? What sort do we want? A big church wedding or quiet registry office do with just the extended family there?"

"I couldn't have it without my brothers there."

Mattie checks her phone. "How's Thursday the thirty first then? Hopefully that gives them enough time to wrap up in Australia and return?"

~~~

Just over an hour after they'd arrived Toby watched the waiter take the last of the plates away. "That was nice. Rearranging things to squeeze an extra table in _and_ getting our food out so fast.."

Astrid was looking at the windows, "I think they want the crowd of photographers outside gone."

Mia places a hand on Toby's, "I really enjoyed our evening thank you Toby. No more name dropping please."

"If you'll all drop a three digit nickname."

"Agreed."

Toby gets his phone out, "One last thing, a photo of us four to tweet mentioning the restaurant, one good favour deserves another."

~~~

[Chapter-110](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-110-1)


	110. Chapter 110

The Uber driver pulled into the estate to drop Mattie and Leo off just as the black cab was stopping to let the four theatre goers out. "We're here."

Mattie kept kissing Leo, her right hand running over his chest. 

Leo spotted the cab out of the corner of his eye, head bumped, asked him to slow and hold back until they'd gone inside.

Mattie sensed something was going on and turned to see. "Let's go in. There's a delivery I need to find."

It sounded like a passion killer. Leo spoke silently to the driver again. Then gave Mattie a sad frown. "A delivery?"

"Yes, a delivery. Button your shirt up Bunny."

"Are you going to check NASA1 stats?"

"No, that can wait."

The driver pulls up in front of the entrance.

"Bunny, head up to our room, I'll be seconds."

"Okay?"

~~~

The theatre goers were waiting. Toby grins, "Someone's had a good evening?"

Leo flashes a smile and heads inside.

Mattie was grateful she'd changed back to her other top, hidden the VKS in a bag. "How was the show?"

Mia beamed, "Wonderful!"

Astrid gave Toby a grin, "Thanks to your brother we're trending."

"Please tell me it's only good stuff?"

Toby looked offended, "Yeah, yeah, all good. This place might get a bit busier next week now the HECLS followers count took off."

Mattie gave him an ultra-light slap on the cheek. "You better stick around to help manage things then. Earn some wages."

"Er, yeah, yeah, sure Mats."

~~~

Mattie raced to the workshop and got the door open. Voice instructions to unlock doors before they were reached was added to her to-do list. "Now, where's that package."

~~~

Leo got into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. The beer had left a funny aftertaste.

~~~

Mattie found the box and ripped it open, found what she was after and stuffed a rolled belt into each pocket. Box placed back on the shelf she races upstairs.

~~~

Toby grins. "Did you all notice?"

Niska, Astrid then Mia do a single nod.

"Who fancies a drink in the garden upstairs?"

~~~

Mattie got into their bedroom. "Bunny?"

Leo made a noise which she could tell meant _I'm in the bathroom_. She steps in and goes to undo his shirt and laughs. "Look at your collar!"

Leo frowns at his reflection. "Ooosh."

He'd got the buttons out of alignment. They were all off by one.

Mattie undoes his shirt and unbuckles his belt.

Leo again talks with a mouth full of toothpaste.

"I'm changing your belt. To yellow."

Leo finishes brushing while she pulls the old one out and feeds the yellow one through.

"There. You're officially a yellow belt. Rinse Bunny."

Leo rinses and is almost dragged from the bathroom to his draws. He watches Mattie pull an orange belt from a pocket and open his sock draw. "Emily's Dad said he and Sandra can make the end of the month. Let's see if you can progress to the next level in time for yes to stay yes."

"You.."

She puts a finger to his lips. "I spotted a good little sign on a shelf in Emily's club next to the vodka bottles. _Be judged on what you do, not what you say_."

Leo took the box and tore it open, folded out the paper inside and looked at both sides. He frowns at Mattie.

"Oh frigging hell. You've never learnt to put one on?"

"Have you?"

"Um. In school on a bright pink dildo. Sex ed. One of the most embarrassing classes ever. No. _The_ most embarrassing class ever."

"Being home schooled I didn't get any of that. You'll have to teach me."

~~~

Toby gets to the top and gets the hatch up and secured. Climbing the stairs to the roof was difficult in long dresses. They asked that Toby didn't look down or back at the hatch until they said so. With him at the top they all hitched them up. They'd get past the last two steps on their own.

~~~

Toby took the hessian bag off his shoulder and got the bottle and glasses out, arranged four chairs around the table without looking in the wrong direction and sat with his back to the hatch.

Astrid got up first, adjusted her knickers and let the big bundle of fabric drop from her hips. She looks down the hatch and gives Mia a thumbs up.

~~~

Mattie undid the cuffs on Leo's shirt. "I'll undress you, you undress me." Leo looked as nervous as hell. "Okay Bunny?"

"Okay. The shirt problem gave me an idea. I could ask Mia to do a single button hole in red, have a red button. When dressing red goes to red, the rest follow up and down from there."

"For those dressing in a hurry? And where would the red button go?"

"As close to my heart as possible. That's an idea, the button could be heart shaped too."

Mattie gives him a moist kiss and peels the shirt off his shoulders. With all the running and swimming he did he was looking buff. He gently pulls at her top to get it out of her jeans, stops, unbuttons them and lowers the zip a little, gives the top another go.

~~~

The three ladies take seats around the table, Mia facing Toby, Niska facing Astrid. Toby uncorks the Prosecco and pours four glasses, passes three to the ladies. He raises his. "To my Super Troupers. Thanks for a brilliant night."

Mia clinks glasses, "Thank _you_ Toby."

Niska clinks with them all, "Please don't start that again."

"Niska.."

"I know, I know, be nice!"

"You are nice. Niska, Astrid, thanks for coming with us."

~~~

Leo's heart was racing, his breathing heavier. This was the first time he'd undressed anyone like that. That he remembered. From other's accounts of Hester he doubted it would have been so sensual. He watches Mattie do a sexy walk to the bed, turn and sit, get further on and lie back. Huh? "I thought.."

Mattie got up onto one elbow, put a finger to her lips. "Words to be read not spoken. Our little secret."

"You always struck me as a bit of a rebel. In a good way. Who knows?"

"Owen obviously."

"Emily?"

"Not unless she's got hidden cameras in the room. She stepped outside for ten. Owen says he'll never repeat what he wrote."

"Why did you change them?"

"Because these sounded better. And I thought you might like them."

"I do."

Mattie grinned. "Keep practicing those two words for the rest of the month." With butterflies swarming inside she beckons him closer with a finger.

~~~

[Chapter-111](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-111-1)


	111. Chapter 111

Pete signals the group of Special Air Service soldiers with a flash of his torch into the night sky. Shortly after explosions could be heard from miles away. The power and network lines had just been cut with explosive charges. The AI had no way out. The local energy firms and BT would have some major work on their hands in the morning. The team had just isolated land fifteen miles square. It needed to be that large to take out the diverse services to all three buildings at once. And for them to be sufficiently far away enough from CCTV cameras to go unnoticed by the AI until it was too late.

David grabs his arm as Pete goes to move. "Be careful, it took over synths, safety laws removed. Don't get killed again."

Pete smiles, "If I do you can stick me in a British built body. I'm British, should be in one mate. Not Japanese tin."

"For that I need a recent backup. Call in Monday, hopefully our new box will have passed the soak test."

"Ah. Noted. Stay here, don't do anything daft."

"As if I would."

Pete gives him a _Seriously?_ look.

"Okay. Maybe I would. I won't. You neither."

"I'll try not to." Pete signals and a bike appears from under camouflage netting. It slides to a halt at his feet.

The rider lifts her visor. " _Get on the bike Sweetheart!_ "

"You shouldn't be the one doing this Kay.."

"Sam's with aunty Tabs, would you rather risk her when she's flesh and bone and can't ride a bike?"

"Of course not."

"Get on then."

Pete gets on and wraps his arms around her. "When did you last have a backup?"

"Too long ago."

David gets up and undoes his belt. "Hold on!"

Pete turns to see him, "Have you lost your marbles?"

"No, I don't want you losing yours. I'll bump you some code, with this belt you'll be able to back up to each other. It enables a direct synth-synth backup. Then as long as one of you survives both do."

"We've not got time mate."

"It's fast. Super fast, wire rate. Trust me. It could make all the difference."

Karen lifts her jacket. "Come on then, if it's that quick."

~~~

Leo thought about the things Mattie had grouped into white, red and yellow belts, took his time with the white collection. If he was to win her eternal love rushing to orange wasn't the done thing. He licks and kissed her neck as she runs her fingers through his hair. She'd raced back to the bathroom and splashed a lot of the perfume he'd bought in Paris on. She smelt heavenly. Which was only right for his Angel.

~~~

Pete frowned. "Bloody hell. That's it?"

"When you're synth to synth and not slowed down by a PC, yes."

"Can we get one of those belts?"

"I'll make one up for you both on Monday."

Pete taps Karen's helmet, "Let's go, I can see a large celebratory bag of chips with my name on it."

David steps back, "Be careful!"

Rubber flies as Karen revs and dumps the clutch, speeds away.

'I never pictured you as a biker Kay.'

'Neither did I until I heard what they're building over at the estate.'

'We'll make quite a team again, their super bikes will be able to go down all the alleyways and bollard blocked roads the crooks disappear down.'

'Don't forget I'm only doing this part time.'

Pete looked over her shoulder at the long road ahead. Hopefully it would stay that way. He enjoyed her coming in two days a week, she helped give a different perspective to things.

The building they were heading to would take five minutes to reach at ninety miles an hour. Add a bit for the twists and turns closer to the building, the fact this was a standard performance petrol bike, the odd unexpected pothole to avoid and it would probably end up being six or seven. Gyro stabilised power drifting around corners sounded like a lot of fun, assuming Danny actually got it working.

Karen decelerated slightly for a long sweeping turn in the road. 'This will probably be the biggest case in STTF's history. WiFi off Pete. All comms off. From here it's only the army radios.'

"Done."

~~~

David sat on the ground with his torch, radio and laptop and got back to a design he'd been working on. The synth recycler. You couldn't just cremate a synth into ash like a human. Sure you could burn one, but that only ruined the skin and softer internal components. To do the job properly needed way more effort. He fished an Easy Peeler tangerine from his pocket and broke it in two, ate half without bothering to peel it.

~~~

Mattie rolled onto her side and wrapped a leg around Leo, she could feel his hot engorged member against her belly. The kissing got more intense. She ran her nails down his back. From his reaction he liked it. If only she could head bump. Being able to talk while having their tongues in each others mouths would add a whole new dimension to their love making.

~~~

Karen had turned onto a long straight stretch of road and pushed the speed even higher.

'Careful Kay, if someone pulls out of a side road..'

'I'm watching out for even a hint of headlights.'

~~~

Astrid poured for them all, "We need an emergency way off this roof. Climbing down stairs after a few glasses in this dress.."

Niska smiled, "You can always take the dress off. I'm sure Toby would be a gentleman again and look away."

"Yeah, sure, of course."

"And what about anyone thinking of coming up the stairs?"

Toby thought about the rope he'd seen dropped out of the back of the helicopter. It wasn't exactly suitable for long dresses either. "How about a small swing like seat you get on, swing out over the side? One of those centrifugal brakes could make sure it doesn't go down too fast."

"And how would it get back up?"

"Something half the weight of.. no. A weight a bit lighter than Sophie. Light enough it doesn't stop her using it, heavy enough to get the seat back up. I'll talk to Mats in the morning."

~~~

[Chapter-112](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-112-1)


	112. Chapter 112

Karen weaved through the obstacles in their path and shot past one of the SAS soldiers who was also getting close to the building."Pete, wait until I'm off the bike before you go in."

"Are you kidding Kay? I'm not letting you out of my sight. If it wasn't for the fact none of them are synths you, me and David would be safely tucked up at home."

"We could have forked."

"And risk not being totally familiar with the body? Too risky."

Their radios bleeped twice. _Whisky delta zulu tango_.

" _Shit!_ One's making a break for it."

~~~

David's laptop had bleeped moments earlier. Days before, with everyone else sleeping, Danny, their Q, had made a super drone with David. It made Odi's large security drone look like a toy. It had fifteen downward facing high def cameras working together in an array. Another eight gave three sixty coverage outwards so the AI, an Alfie fork, could detect approaching aircraft and get safely out of the way. It was flying very high. Well outside of legal piloted drone limits. It had reported via single short duration clicks on a lot of different aircraft frequencies that it was tracking a new object that had originated from one of the buildings, not the perimeter.

~~~

Whisky Delta Zulu Tango was a grid reference. Each row and column of the fifteen mile square had been divided into ten then ten again. The labels didn't follow an alphabetical order to make it hard for anyone that intercepted the communications to decode. Unless they managed to get a map off one of the SAS.

~~~

Karen slammed on the breaks and skidded the bike to a halt. Pete jumped off and lay flat on the ground. Karen tipped the bike on it's side and did the same. Whisky Delta Zulu Tango was their sector. No sooner had her hands touched the dirt there was the sound of feet running fast. As fast as any synth could go when running flat out, no concern for battery levels. The sound was followed a second later by a whoosh and thud. A couple of seconds later there was a louder thud and the dead synth fell on the bike. The radio clicked once. _Zulu Zulu_. Click.

~~~

That was their code word for eternal sleep. Death.

~~~

Karen got to her feet fast, started pulling the bike back up. Pete got to his and helped. The dead synth, only twelve and a child by appearance, rolled off. The long machine bolt still gripped in each hand clattered against the exhaust.

"What they hell did she think she'd be able to do with those. Bolt us to death."

Karen looked upset by what she could see.

"Kay. Kay. They'll use everything they can against us. The rule book's been shredded. They might even have a Sam model. It won't be him. You have to be prepared to shoot. We give them no chances. No chances Kay."

Karen nodded. The AI escaping, carried in a synth body, could be catastrophic. It had forked twice according to their intelligence, the three instances resided in a building each. It had assumed the distances between buildings had given it the needed resilience. It hadn't counted on Karen and Pete's ability to think big.

~~~

Mattie's breathing was fast and shallow. "Don't stop." She arched her back as Leo's tongue worked it's magic.

~~~

Karen jumped on the bike and got it running again. " _Get back on Sweetheart!_ "

Pete did as asked. He liked when she played with accents. "Am I seeing things or have you got some elastic bands on.."

"Yes! They let me twist the throttle open and let go. I can then fire my shock gun without the bike slowing. Get on!"

~~~

They were working on data pulled from Miaz. The primary site was more heavily defended with technology that needed Pete and Karen's ability to think extremely fast. The two backup sites were defended but by less sophisticated means.

The radio clicks again. _Zulu zulu_. Click.

Pete looked all around. "That's odd? Why hadn't the drone spotted it? Where ever it was?"

"Maybe one of the snipers spotted it before it got into the open?"

~~~

Mattie's breathing stuttered and she clamped her legs around Leo's head as she came. She was covered in a film of sweat and still smelt of roses. Leo ran his hands up the sides of her torso and she came again.

~~~

The bike raced the last few hundred yards to the primary building. The first challenge was the entry system. Miaz knew how the long question and answer sequence worked. The answers came from her fact store. Each question had a binary true or false answer. Ten random questions would be answered in the space of half a second. If Pete didn't have the answer because it had been in the missing two percent he'd have to make an educated guess.

He overclocks, places a finger over the two buttons and touches both lightly. Six tenths of a second later many bolts fired and a heavy door started sliding back. "You're up. Miaz."

Karen smiled. She was to pretend that she was Miaz having switched bodies to prevent being recognised by the enemy. Hopefully the SAS had taken out all the cameras outside. If not she had a gun loaded with live rounds, one with blanks. bLanks Left. Real Right. Easy enough to remember. If she took Pete hostage and shot him it would be the left hand pulling a trigger.

The radio clicked twice. _Everywhere!_

Pete grabbed Karen and pulled her inside the building fast as the sound of dozens of high technology rounds sliced through the air.

~~~

Mattie's body went limp as she smiled at the ceiling. Sod orange belts. If he didn't progress and stayed at yellow for the rest of eternity she'd be happy. His happiness was just as important though. She felt around the bedding with a hand for the little box.

~~~

The large door closed behind Karen and Pete and locked. Lights came on.

"Bloody hell Kay! Has this AI been watching films or what?"

~~~

Hundreds of damaged synths were stood side by side, front to back. The only thing that didn't appear to be damaged was their heads, from what they could see that wasn't covered by a thin blindfold. There were no blue synth fluid stains above the shoulders.

~~~

"They've been networked together Pete."

He could see that from the cables all running up into the ceiling. Never give a broken AI access to streaming video services. Humans had made dozens of films its warped mind could feed on.

With the synth at arms length he carefully lifts a blindfold. "Shit. This one's had his eyes removed."

Karen lifts one. "This one too."

Pete lifts another and another. "My money's on all of them being eyeless."

~~~

The hundreds of synths spoke together as one. "YOU CANNOT WIN."

~~~

Pete crept slowly towards Karen and took her hand, slowly pulled her away. In a corridor to the side he got her against a wall and spoke directly into her ear as quietly as he could. "Is this the AI? Is that what forked? Or is it in another room?"

She moves to get her mouth over his ear. "The data David pulled from Miaz suggests the AI still lives in a server in a rack. These must be the guards that monitored the cameras and network feeds."

Pete nods, moves again, "So now they're truly blind."

Karen nods and takes his hand.

~~~

Mattie sighed and hugged Leo. "Don't worry Bunny. It doesn't matter. We've got plenty days to practice."

"I.."

"It doesn't matter. Honestly. Look me in the eyes. It doesn't matter. I don't love you any less."

Her most embarrassing school lesson had been different. A bright pink plastic dildo in one way was much like a plastic replica gun. It wasn't loaded. It didn't respond to being handled. Leo on the other hand was more like an assault rifle with a feather light trigger. That had been fired accidentally when Mattie had tried to fit a condom.

She smiles. "Or we can wait half an hour and try again?"

~~~

[Chapter-113](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-113-1)


	113. Chapter 113

After exploring for several minutes Pete gets them to return to the large room full of synths and follows the mass of wires strapped to the ceiling. They'd come to the conclusion that things were running off the collective synth battery reserves. That or there was a generator somewhere.

After following them down a long narrow corridor they find the wires turned sharp right and disappeared into a hole smashed through the brick wall.

Pete looks around. "Bugger. No doors. How do we get on the other side of that?"

"Follow me."

"Kay?"

"I've been mapping out every footstep. There wasn't a way from the end we came from, it has to be from the other end."

They'd covered maybe a third of the corridor. The next two thirds were unlit except for the dim glow of red LED in light fittings.

"Kay if you watched anything other than romantic comedy you'd know how uneasy I feel about this."

~~~

Niska is just about to get a mouth full of Astrid when there's a loud bang on the door. "COMMANDER NISKA!"

Astrid gets to her elbows. "Scheisse. Is he serious?"

Niska sits. 'What is it?'

'Sorry Ma'am. I need a lift.'

'Why?'

'David's called.'

'Where is he?'

'Horsham. There's a small war being fought.'

'Can't your helicopter friends help?'

'Away on another mission.'

"Blast." She gets up and starts getting dressed.

"Niska?"

"I have to give him a lift."

"Where to?"

"Horesham."

Astrid gets up and starts dressing too.

"You can't come."

"We come as a set Mattie says."

"Not this time. Sorry."

Astrid grabs Niska, gives her a kiss as a tear rolls down. "Remember what I said at the station. You make sure you come home."

"I will."

'James I'll see you outside.'

'Thank you.'

~~~

Downstairs Niska finds the spare car keys in the key locker in the workshop. The redhead looked through her at nothing. David had said she was ready, just waiting on Wrench to take residence in a new younger body before being powered up. She undoes her belt.

~~~

Mattie's phone buzzes away on the sideboard and thanks to the case it was in drifts slowly towards the edge. She was in a place that she didn't want to leave. Not yet.

~~~

Karen fires at a shadow, another child synth falls. There were now nine face down along the corridor.

Pete had his gun raised too. "Remember what David said, they have no mind of their own, no memories of anything good. Just an order to kill. We can't let a copy of the AI escape."

~~~

James would frown if he could.

'Not a word to the others. This is our secret.'

"Who.."

Odi steps out of the living room. "What's happening?"

"Odi, can you erase the CCTV footage, don't let anyone know."

"Unauthorised.." He turns to see Niska leaving the workshop, her belt being done back up. "People will question it."

Niska smiles. "Two becomes three. Just for tonight. I don't want to risk this body. We can build another for Wrench if needed."

Red smiles, "You can treat me to some toast and apricot if I come back okay?"

Odi looks at the redhead. "Niska?"

"Call me Red. Nissy's taken. I must go."

~~~

Niska walks over to Odi, gives him a peck on the cheek. "Don't erase anything. Just let people find out for themselves later."

"Okay Niska."

Niska returns to their bedroom to finish what she's started.

~~~

James tried to open the boot, his hands were too big for the handle. "Can you help me please?"

"You want to sit in the boot?"

"I won't be able to get in any other way." Things clunked inside and he shrunk down a little. "This is a smallest I can go. Sorry."

Red opened the boot and worked on folding all the rear seats down. "We need to work on the bikes, make one that will take your weight."

"Bikes?"

She bumps a memory of seeing Danny and Emily on the cardboard mockup.

"Bikes! Yes please!"

She gets out and waits for him to get in. The suspension compresses all the way down to the bump stops.

"How heavy are you?"

"Heavy. I'm surprised I've not cracked floor tiles in the house."

"They're on a good solid floor."

She lowers and closes the boot. They needed a bigger car. Laura's was too small.

~~~

Astrid frowns as Niska enters the bedroom and starts stripping of. "Nis? I thought you had to go?"

~~~

Pete cautiously takes a fast glance through the doorway and pulls his head back. "Jesus. Where did they all come from? Qualia didn't build this many did they?"

Karen goes to take a look.

"Stay back. You don't want to see."

She goes to move again.

Pete blocks her. "Kay. No."

"I don't need protecting Pete."

"From this you do."

"Why?"

"There's an equipment rack in the middle of the floor. It's surrounded by synth children. All armed with something."

"How many?"

Pete reviews what he'd seen. "I can't see around the back, if it's the same density as this side.. seventy maybe?"

"Seventy children?"

"Kay! They're _not_ children! They're mindless bloody killers made to look like one! They won't give you a hug and ask for a bedtime story."

Karen takes the clip of blanks out, puts it in her right back pocket, gets a clip of live rounds. "Do the same."

"Kay. I'll handle this."

"We do it together or not at all."

Pete shook his head, "You're a stubborn lady Karen Voss. One of your many good qualities." He changes clips in the same way. "Fifteen rounds a clip, four guns. That means we'll need to change clips before we're done."

Karen gives him the saddest of eyes. "Maybe not."

"What are you thinking?"

"Drop to one knee as you enter, we might get a two for one."

"What are we aiming at?"

"Heads, we can't risk a power cell going up."

~~~

[Chapter-114](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-114-1)


	114. Chapter 114

James watched the mainly empty road out of the rear window, waved as nicely as he could to the shocked drivers they passed. "David Elster made the first synthetics. Do you think he could do a mod for me Red?"

"HECLS can do all sorts of things. What were you after?"

"A proper face."

"You've got a face."

"It's more of a mask than a face. I don't have the control you do to show emotions. I'd happily trade features."

Red flashed a cluster of overtaking lorries. "Such as?"

"My extra eyes."

"How many eyes do you have?"

"I can only use two at a time. If I was to get shot in one it's pushed out and another takes its place. I've got eleven spares left."

"Where?"

"In tubes behind my cheeks, teeth and chin."

"Doesn't that get in the way of your mouth?"

"My teeth are cosmetic. My mouth as you think of it doesn't exist."

"Where's your main CPU core?"

"All of my processors and memory are in my chest behind armour piercing proof protection. My head is mainly full of air."

Red would have laughed if a human had said that. James wasn't. She felt sorry for him. "If that's the case why not a whole new head? Not just a face."

"Do you think that's possible?"

"My friends have shown me that almost everything is possible. If you want it enough."

The lorry on the outside lane finally passes the other two and Red drops a gear and accelerates.

~~~

Pete and Karen were getting all sorts of things thrown at them; big machine bolts, spanners, vices, parts from cars. The child synths clearly hadn't made good plans to arm themselves.

Pete got another cut to the face, crabbed sideways. "At least they're not rushing forwards. They're like bloody emperor penguins, protecting what's in the middle. He fires again, gets a small boy through the forehead, he drops as does the girl behind. The child sized synths move sideways to try and close the gap.

~~~

In building two, half of that site's SAS team had gone in with EMP grenades, taken out a third of the enemy in one go. They were now picking off the ones scattered around the rooms. It was a similar story in site three.

~~~

"They're not children. They're not children." Karen looked at her target through wet eyes and fired. "They're not children!" She fired again and a boy identical to Sam fell. She fired again. A girl fell. It wasn't so much that she was crying, she was, it was the synth fluid running from a gash in her forehead.

~~~

Red made a note to get the car in for a service once they were done. The wheels needed balancing. At a hundred and forty on the A24 the steering wheel was shaking like it wanted to fall off. "Under ten minutes James." The oil temperature looked a bit high too.

"Good. Don't get too close, I'll run the last half mile."

"This body's disposable. I'll get you where you need to be."

"That's not necessary, I'll run the last bit."

"I've seen you run."

"I might be slower than you but.."

"This car will be faster. Much faster."

~~~

Pete shot the last of the synths, pulled his clip. "One in the chamber, one in the clip." It's slammed back in. He got up and pulled the bodies from around the armoured rack. "Kay, out you get."

"Pete.."

"Don't argue this time. It might be boobytrapped. Like that Miaz."

"Then we should let the army open it."

"Blow it up is more their style. I want to see what's inside."

"So do I but.."

"Kay. If it goes boom and I go with it you can get me back in a HECLS body."

Reluctantly Karen nods. "Okay. How far away?"

"To that main door."

"How will you know I've got there?"

"Fire a blank."

"Okay."

~~~

Mattie kept arms an legs wrapped around Leo. He was super hot and sweaty, she didn't care. "You know how Emily and I like talking in code?"

"Yes?"

"From now on if I say I want OJ I mean I want a drink. If I say I want Orange Juice I want you."

Leo chuckled, "Celebrity Juice inspired?"

"That and the belt that's now yours."

~~~

Red was horrified at what greeted them. She weaved from side to side to avoid the small bodies.

James could see them now. "You're wasting time, run them over, they're dead already."

"I don't want to blow a tyre."

"Fair enough. This will do."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Let me out, get to David's location as fast as you can please."

"I'm coming with you."

"That is most unwise."

"I've not had a good fight in a long time. Humour me."

"What will you arm yourself with?"

"Something in the boot." Red gets out and goes to open it. It won't open. She opens the passenger door. "Have you done anything to the boot?"

"I braced myself against the seat backs, boot door and passenger doors to prevent myself from moving around. Why?"

"It won't open."

"Is it locked?"

Red closes the driver and passenger doors, blips the key fob twice. The lock solenoids clunk each time. She tries the handle again. It won't budge.

The passenger door is opened again. "I think you've distorted something and it's jammed."

"Would Mrs Hawkins like an excuse to get a new car?"

"Probably. Wh.."

BANG "One excuse."

"James!"

"Red!"

The boot lands some meters away.

"You said probably. Not probably not. Out of the way please."

Red watches him climb out and walk to a large windowless building with one massive door. She quickly lifted the boot base, now all splintered and out of shape. Jack and rope grabbed she races to join him. "Your plan?"

"Since we're not being shot at I assume David got the message to the snipers that we're the good guys. Now we break Karen and Pete out."

"Break them out?"

"He was having a look through Miaz's fact store again, realised there was one question that was always asked to unlock the door to exit. And the answer to that looked to be in the bit they couldn't recover. And it's not a binary one or zero answer."

"So now what?"

"You stand back."

"Why?"

"Full of questions aren't you? Seen Rock Em' Sock Em' Robots?"

"No?"

"It's a kid's game. Step back if you don't want your face shredded by shrapnel." His body jerks and grows with a lot of clunking from within. "This is also known as the Hulk Smasher if you talk to Sarge. When I said step back I meant it." He steps forwards and rests both fists on the wall to the left of the door. There's a whining noise and his fists start tapping the wall. Left-right-left-right. "Do you have a death wish Red?"

"No."

"Then in the nicest possible way.. FUCK OFF!" The movements go from tapping to thumping hard. Loudly hard.

'What are you doing?'

'Working out the building's resonant frequency. So I can smash a hole in it.'

Niska gets back, avoiding tripping over the dead synths. 'Will it take long?'

'If you don't get back, yes!'

Niska runs to the car. 'I'm back at the car. Far enough?'

'Should be.' The thumping became a blur and sounded like machine gun fire. Only it was pulsed. Brrrr.. Brrrr.. Brrrr. Cracks started to form in the wall as James continued to hit it.

'It's working.'

'Of course it's working.'

~~~

[Chapter-115](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-115-1)


	115. Chapter 115

Karen had been in a bit of an emotional mess, had taken a good while to walk back to the door. She'd not fired the blank yet. With the noise from the wall and cracks appearing inside she ran back to Pete.

~~~

Danny sipped another beer and watched Emily dancing on her little basement club stage. "I really should go charge my phone."

Emily did a teasing unhappy pout. "My Puddin' wants his phone more than he wants me?"

"No Princess, no, I've just got this weird nagging feeling someone's trying to call me."

"If it's HECLS they could call me. Mine's not rung."

Danny picks the face down phone off the bar and checks it. "Maybe because it's flat too?"

"Oh bum."

~~~

Pete held his hands out. "What happened? Gun jammed? I've been waiting ages."

"Something's coming in."

"What d'you mean something?"

"Through the wall by the door."

"Kay the wall's got to be a meter thick at least."

"I'm good at sizes. Remember?"

"Aubergine or slate grey and canvas cream? Yeah, I remember."

~~~

Red watches a section of wall four meters wide and ten tall collapse. James bashed falling blocks aside as if they were polystyrene. "Wow! What I could do in a body like that. Faster running would be a must."

~~~

Pete changes clips. "I suggest we don't stick together. At least one of us has to get out."

~~~

James clunks and clunks to get as small as possible again. "KAREN! PETE!"

~~~

Karen hears their names echoing down the corridors. "Do you think it's a trap?"

"No bloody idea unless it's carrying a bag of chips."

"There's not a single window, door or trapdoor that hints at another way out."

"What a choice. Stay with an unknown armoured rack or find out what the hell has a booming voice."

There's the sound of fast running, heals on the concrete floor.

Pete chuckles. "Booming voice and what sounds like ladies shoes?" He holds his guns up, aimed at the doorway. "This should be interesting."

"Karen! Pete! Where are you? It's Niska."

Karen raises her guns and whispers, "That doesn't sound like Niska."

Pete gets his off one shot and onto automatic, "It sounds nothing like her."

Red races past the doorway and narrowly misses a hail of bullets. " _I know you wanted to shoot me at George's but that's ridiculous!_ "

Karen keeps both guns up and steps towards the doorway, recalls George's hand going up as she accidentally shot him in the kidney. "How do you know about George?"

"Because I was there! In my original body not this loaner."

Karen steps even closer to the doorway. "Loaner?"

"I've got one of David's special belts. Not the me here, the one back at HECLS with Astrid. This one had been prepped by him for Wrench. I saw her when getting Laura's spare car keys. I thought I can go in my current body and risk my arse being blown off. Or copy myself into Red and get back upstairs and have my arse grabbed by Astrid instead."

Pete lowers his guns. "Ha. I know that sarcastic tone. That's Niska. Even if it doesn't sound like her original voice."

Red risks looking around the doorframe. "Karen you're hurt!"

A couple of seconds later something's thrown into the room. Karen spins and fires at it twice as it hits the floor.

"Are you mad! That's a skin pack! Or was!"

Karen looks at the box. "Oh! Sorry!"

"Can I come in or are you going to shoot me too?"

"I'm putting them away."

"Good, that noise you can hear is James coming."

"Who?"

~~~

Danny looks at the two phones charging. "Boot you bastards!"

Emily wriggles on his lap. "I don't think they're listening Puddin'."

"Fecking things. I'm making a DCL back to them so you can swap batteries over like in the old days."

~~~

Mia snuggled up closer to Toby on the seat for two and points at some stars, "And that one's Orion. The Hunter."

"The Galaxy is on Orion's belt."

"Technically.."

"It's a movie quote."

"Which movie?"

"Are you saying you've not seen Men In Black?"

"I am."

"Fancy finishing the day off with a cuddle and movie in bed?"

~~~

Red grinned as James got close. "Don't freak out, he's a bit on the large side, he's lovely. Karen, Pete, meet James."

The military unit synth took a couple of sideways steps and filled the doorway. "Hello. Can we go now Red?"

Pete looked him up and down. "Now there's a man who likes his chips! I need to know something before we go." He turns and points. "What's in that."

James turns sideways and ducks under the door frame. "Would you like me to hit it?"

~~~

[Chapter-116](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-116-1)


	116. Chapter 116

Toby rents the film on Amazon having checked Netflix and finding it missing. Mia returns from the bathroom in pink silk pyjamas. She plumps up all the pillows and arranges them against the headboard.

He turns to see her getting under the sheets. "I've found it."

She flicks his side of the bedding back, "In you get my black and orange Trax riding knight."

~~~

Red helped move the child synths to the edge of the room. One went to move on her own and was chin tapped. "I think this one was playing dead."

Pete gets his gun back out.

Red puts a hand up. "Stop! She's off. She's harmless now. You adopted Sam, I'd like to adopt her."

Pete shakes his head and aims the gun, "She's got no mind worth saving."

"Neither did this body until David wiped it and gave it a new mind. It came from the lake, was an adult version of her."

The gun is turned on her. "You're a Miaz fork?"

"No. I'm a _Niska_ fork. The body was wiped. To military standards wiped. Do you think I'd risk copying myself into it if he hadn't? Get him on the radio if you need confirmation."

Pete lowers and holsters the gun then drags the girl to the door. "Strangest adoption I've ever heard of but if that's what you want. Now how do we find out what's in that thing?"

"I'll open it. You get away from here with James and the girl. I'm a fork so expendable. I can be disavowed. If things go wrong get the girl to David, he'll know what to do."

"I'll know what?"

They turn to see David and one of the SAS team in the doorway.

Red smiles, "Sorry David, I gave Red a bit of a test run, didn't want to risk my real body. I'd like you to wipe the girl. I'd like her as a daughter."

"Have you spoken to Astrid about this?"

"Not this girl specifically, but about adoption, yes."

"You do realise you won't be able to do what you want, when you want, with Astrid? There's going to be a third person in the equation. One that might not want to do what either of you want."

"Yes."

"I'll get her wiped in a moment then. This gentleman is here to blow up the rack."

Pete gets closer to it. "I want to see what's in it."

"Too risky."

Red stands next to Pete. "Which is why I volunteered. My root is at home with Astrid. Give me something to pry it open."

David nods at the soldier, he hands her his toolkit.

Red puts the heavy bag on the floor and unzips it. "I'd get out of the building if I were you." She starts sifting through the tools.

David gives her his radio. He picks up the girl and gives the others a sad glance. "Good luck."

~~~

A happy contented sign escapes Mattie's lips. She was dreaming. Not of an alternate reality but her own wedding. Sophie was being helped with her bridesmaids dress.

~~~

Toby put an arm around Mia's shoulders. "Do you think alien life exists?"

"It would be an awful shame having such a big universe if it didn't. We'll never know."

"Sure we will. As synths we can live forever. We'll find out eventually where others are."

"You're human Toby."

He turns bodily to face her. "At the moment. I get my full backup this morning with a bit of luck. You're not getting rid of me that easily Moon Girl."

She rolls and kisses him, rolls back to continue watching the film. "If you could design your own body, be more like an alien, what would you change?"

"Easy! Arms. I'd have two more arms."

"What else?"

"Just that."

"Why arms?"

"Two often feels too few."

She gives him a questioning look. "You're holding back. There's another reason."

"If I had four I could hold you tight _and_ gently caress you at the same time."

A soft smile appears, "Hold that thought until the end of the film."

~~~

Red got the heavier tools into the small gap she'd managed to make and pulled the ends towards each other with all her might. The lock shattered.

She thinks of Sophie and does something she'd seen her young friend do. Crosses fingers. It was the first time she'd done it. It felt strange.

She opens the door. "What the hell!" She grabs the radio and squeezes. "David, get in here! _Now_!"

~~~

The cables that had snaked their way around the building into this room all terminated at the top in what looked to her, based on Danny's talk on the HECLS House equipment, like a network switch. One modified to run off DC. A super large battery like the ones pulled from the lake sat at the bottom. Strung in the middle of the almost ceiling high rack was their answer. She gives it a very close look.

~~~

David, Pete, Karen and the soldier come running in. Red looks accusingly at David.

David's shoulders drop. "Oh my God. Odin?"

Karen frowns, "This thing has a name?"

"Edwin Hobb you stupid _stupid_ man! That thing as you put it, was the second generation prototype platform Edwin, George and I worked with. A simple open torso and head on which we could mount sensors. Nicknamed Odin as Edwin damaged one of his eyes. Ed was _supposed_ to have securely disposed of him."

Odin's head turns. "Hello father. Have we won? File system error. Bad sectors detected."

David gets very close and rests a hand on his shoulder, "Hello Odin, yes, you won." His hand moves fast and yanks a cable. "Won the right to finally die."

Odin's head slumps forwards.

David starts undoing the many wires suspending him in the middle of the rack. "I suspect he had one of the synths do this, the knots are far too uniform and neat for a flesh and bone human. I'll pull the memories and confirm. If no humans were involved I think we can safely say case closed don't you?"

Karen helps undo wires. "Teach me how, I want to review them for myself."

"For safety reasons you'll need to fork into a restrained body and do it from there."

"Let's do it."

"HECLS House next stop then. Before we go can someone help me take that thing from the top of the rack, it looks useful."

"What about the thing at the bottom?"

"We've got plenty of those from the lake. Although I suspect the thin box sat on top of it might be the charger or UPS device for it, we'll take that too."

~~~

[Chapter-117](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-117-1)


	117. Chapter 117

Red had phoned Niska and started a video call, got an excited yes from both her and Astrid. The young girl synth was carried to the car and put in the passenger seat.

James climbed in the back and braced his feet against the car sides. "At least Frank doesn't need to find a car at the scrap yard. This one will do."

Red buckled up. "For what?"

"The bucket conveyor we're going to make to help speed up the lab excavation for Danny."

"Who's paying for a new one?"

"Leave that with me."

Red starts the car. "You have money?"

"I have something I can trade for money. If my brothers join me we can sort it out."

Red pulled down the sun visor and looked through the collection of CDs in a pouch. There was a home burnt disc with one word written in red Sharpie with a heart after it. Sophie's handwriting. ABBA! "James, I hope you like music."

~~~

An army lorry pulled alongside, David leaned out of the passenger window. "You lead, we'll follow. There'll be another four lorries joining our convoy once we get to the M23. They're dropping all the synths off at HECLS for secure recycling. It's going to be a busy week."

Karen pulled alongside on the bike, Pete sat on the back. She pulls her helmet off and passes it back, "You wear it Pete, I'm listening to ABBA with Red Niska."

Pete doesn't argue, pulls it on. "It smells of you. Nice."

David's radio clicks. _All ready_. He smiles at Red. "Slowly please, these lorries aren't fast."

Red puts the car in gear and pulls away.

~~~

Danny woke and shook. Emily was asleep on the bench seat. He'd nodded off too, now had major pins and needles in the arm his head had been resting on. Phone scooped up he checks the many notifications. There were a load of missed calls from David. One five minutes ago. He dials.

The phone rings and rings. "Hi! David! Sorry, our phones went flat and we nodded off waiting for them to charge. How did your night go?" His eyes open wide as David gives a summary. "Holy crap! .. Um, not at this hour. How about we offer them a slap up breakfast and ask them to delay unloading? Dad and Dozer wake around six thirty. Sure. Yes, adding an alarm as soon as this call ends. Yes. See you there." He hangs up, adds two alarms and slowly gets up to move to somewhere else to sleep.

"Babes?"

"Go back to sleep princess."

"I'm awake now."

"Try and get some more sleep. I'm wanted at the estate bright and early."

"Why?"

"They think they have the root synth. The one behind all the Miaz agro. And David wants me to check out a Cisco Nexus switch they've recovered."

"A Nexus? They got one of those for the Uni. The F2 line cards are worth fifty thousand each."

"I've used one at a client site. Can't say who. Those cards are f'ing fast. Ten gig ports."

"If that's being donated to HECLS it will make the current switch look very slow."

"I could move that one to the lab when it's built."

Emily giggles, "Save the world, get a free switch. Let's go now, we can get a few hours sleep in our room there."

"Sure?"

Emily sits up. "Sure Babes. Let's go."

"I think we should change first."

Emily looks down at her Harley Quinn costume. "It's not that bad is it?"

"No princess, I'd just rather keep some things to ourselves. And the soldiers minds on their jobs and not your sweet body."

"Okay Puddin'."

"Doctor Harleen Quinzel, if I could have my Princess Emily back please?"

"Sure Babes."

~~~

Niska and Astrid couldn't sleep, were now sat in the kitchen about to have coffee.

Astrid pulls a face. "This one is yours. I'd rot my teeth drinking that all day."

"Sorry."

They switch mugs.

Astrid looks back at her phone. "It's an unusual name."

"True. But we're an unusual couple. It's number two in the anagram server's results. Niska Astrid. Radiant Kiss. If Ten liked the name Radiator why can't she be called Radiant?"

"No reason at all. I love it. Radiant Kiss. We like kisses." She takes a sip of coffee and frowns. "If we marry, do we double barrel our names as Mattie and Leo plan to?"

"Why?"

"If it's Elster-Schaeffer and she uses her first name and surname initials it will be RES."

Niska leans forward with lips puckered. Astrid leans to bring their lips together.

~~~

David watches Karen's head nodding and shaking to the music that was blaring out of the car windows. The car was a mess. He'd help pay for a new one. One Laura would really like. 'Red?'

'Yes David?'

'Once you've dropped your passengers off at the house, park the car in the other carpark. Sculpture Sally doesn't drive, her space should be free.'

'Good thinking. I think Laura would have a breakdown if she got to see this on her way to work.'

'I'll get a message to Michael to make sure she orders a taxi.'

~~~

[Chapter-118](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-118-1)


	118. Chapter 118

Danny's first alarm went off at 06:20. He slipped out of bed and got dressed in yesterday's clothes. He'd shower and shave later. He unplugs his phone and creeps out of the room, smiles at Emily as he pulls the door closed.

Coming down the last half of the stairs he finds two SAS soldiers in the hall. "Morning."

They nod and watch him wave his hand to unlock the workshop door.

~~~

Niska and Astrid were beaming away. A young girl sat between them, David to their left. Red was sat where he'd last seen her, inactive. Although her hair was now pulled back into a bunch.

The girl smiles. "Hello. My name is Radiant Kiss. Who are you please?"

Danny's eyes dart to Niska, then Astrid and back to the girl. "Hello Radiant, I'm Daniel. Although my friends call me Danny or Dan."

"May I call you Danny?"

"You may. That's a lovely name you have."

The girl's face lights right up. "It's Mummy and Mummy all jumbled up!"

Danny frowns. "Sorry? It's what?"

Astrid smiles, "An anagram of Niska and Astrid."

"Radiant Kiss is an anagram of your names? Flipping heck. Did you two get goosebumps when you worked that out? Wow.. It's like the universe is giving you a big thumbs up and validating your love."

Niska's eyes gave him the smile reserved for the good guys. "Aww, thank you Danny. Why are you here so early?"

"I need to catch Dad on the phone re shipping containers, there's a Nexus switch to be checked out?"

David stands and pulls a sheet off it. "I thought it might come in handy."

"Holy cow! The full height one? Oh. My. God. They're F2 cards in there. Did they rob a bank? Or is it stolen?"

"Pete spoke with Cisco in Japan, they were able to look the serial numbers up, it's not stolen. It was ordered by Odin. Using an account that it would appear Hobb had given him access to."

"Hobb? Blimey. What do you need me to do with the switch?"

"Check the firmware and operating system are clean."

"Easy. Then what?"

"Rack it I guess?"

"Awesome."

~~~

Radiant gets up and turns to look at it. "What does it do?"

Danny laughed, "Apart from put out a lot of heat? In simple terms it gets network data coming in on one socket out on the others to things that need it. Have your mothers told you about talking over WiFi? Head bumping as we called it?"

"Yes."

"Well WiFi can only go so fast. On the best WiFi network you could talk at six hundred megabits. Plugged into this you could do ten gigabits. That's just over sixteen times faster."

Radiant nods. "Very fast. Like sprinting instead of walking."

"Exactly! A good analogy."

"Mummy and Mummy are going to teach me more things. Can you teach me too?"

"I can. And Emily and Sophie can teach you dancing. Toby and Mia can show you cooking. And teach you about space. I think everyone here can probably teach you something. Do you want to watch while I check out the switch?"

"If I may?"

He turns, "Nis, Astrid, you okay with her becoming the next Mattie or Emily?"

Niska nods, "As long as it meets the new fifth law."

"What's that?"

"Be nice."

"Okay. Before I do that I have to go and get a glass of water and phone my father."

~~~

At 07:45 Mattie appeared. "Morning Danny. A slight improvement on seven. Has NASA1 checked.. Hello?"

Danny keeps typing, looking at the screen. "Morning Mattie."

"Who's that sitting next to you?" There was a playful sound to her voice.

Danny spins around. "Mattie Hawkins, meet Nis and Astrid's daughter Radiant Kiss."

Radiant spins her chair around and offers a hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you Mattie. Danny has told me a lot about you."

"He has, has he?"

"You're CEO of HECLS, getting married to Leo, you're a friend to synthetics, probably _the_ best friend. You helped save Mummy's sister Mia. And you're a kickass coder. I still don't understand kickass but he says that means something like very _very_ good." She giggles, "And you use a word starting with F a lot."

"Frigging hell Danny!"

Danny turns to grin at Radiant, "See, I told you."

Mattie grins too, "I'm playing with you, I did that one deliberately. But yeah, I do use the word a lot. Maybe too much. But that's me and I'm not changing for anyone."

"Mummy says it's important to be yourself and be nice."

"Is that Niska mummy?"

The girl nods.

"You've got some lovely Mummies, you're a lucky girl." The elephant in the room had finally gotten to her. "Please tell me you've not emptied our bank account on that monster Dan?"

Danny frowned. "Monster? Oh. The Nexus. No. That was a salvage job. James offered to punch an armoured cabinet, Pete said he wanted to see what was inside. It was this, Odin, a UPS and one of those insanely big batteries."

"Odin?"

"Test platform mark two. Way before the first proper synth body. When I've finished upgrading the Nexus and reconfigured it for our use, Odin, Kaza and Simon are all being plugged into it. They clipped all the wires to get it out fast but from a switch end and synth end they'd saved I've been able to work out the pinout."

"Kaza?"

"Karen in a Sally. Like David in the Simon."

"They're here?"

"In the living room. They might be sleep charging at the moment."

Mattie rests a hand on the young girl's shoulder, "Radiant, can I use that laptop a moment please?"

"Yes Mattie." She stands. "May I watch?"

"Sure. Wheel a chair over." Mattie goes to sit.

"How do I do that?"

"Oh. I'll do it, you watch and learn."

"Thank you Mattie. I'm learning a lot already."

Mattie walks over to another chair and grabs the back with both hands. "What else have you learnt this morning?"

Radiant watches it being turned and pushed. "Snowy is a real cat. A pet. Some animals are to be handled gently and looked after, they're labelled pets. Some are kept and allowed to grow until they're ready to be cut up, they're labelled food. And some should be whacked with a newspaper."

Mattie coughed and choked, "Mum up early finding spiders?"

Danny nods. "Giant house spider. Big sucker. It didn't stand a chance. She's turned her phobia into an art form. You should have seen that rolled up magazine fly."

Radiant sits. "I'm glad I'm a synthetic. I can consume electricity. I don't have to work out the difference between pet and food. They can all be pets. Even the spiders. A spider can't give me a poisonous bite."

"A spider can. You just won't react to it."

"Is that because I don't have blood?"

"Yes."

Radiant frowns slightly. "I conclude that the spider bite being poisonous depends on the recipient of the bite not the spider."

"Um. Yeah. You're right."

Mattie logs into the laptop and checks the log from her load test script. "Awesome! Dan, the checks passed, all drives good. How many spare drives do we want?"

"Four? Does our OS support double-parity RAID-6? If so 58 drives with two parity drives."

Mattie nods. "Yup."

"Configure that then please."

"What will the network card do? I mean bandwidth wise."

"A gig. If I swap out the SFP ten."

Radiant moves her chair to see both of their faces. "What's a SFP?"

"Small Form-Factor Pluggable. It's a little device Cisco make to allow different connection types. I'm using them in all my high speed products now. The cost is higher per port but it's worth it."

Mattie had been doing some mental maths. "Frigging hell. That gives us one hundred and seventy four terabytes of storage before formatting."

"And that's just the first of three."

"How long is the RAID array building going to take I wonder? And building an ext4 file system over it?"

"I don't want to brag but a world record fast? I didn't design it with IO on steroids for the hell of it. This stays private to HECLS right?"

"Totally. I'll set up a script to do it and time it."

"Thanks."

~~~

[Chapter-119](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-119-1)


	119. Chapter 119

At 08:35, with Laura heading to the courts in a taxi, David and the James gang stand in the hallway and show Mattie a picture of a car.

David swipes to an internal view. "All the modern things you'd expect. Minus a Pinky style core, Danny could add one."

"She'd love that. But we have a car?"

James One clunks to try and get smaller, fails. "Had. I ruined her car last night."

"What?"

"I needed a lift to the site."

"And?"

"I distorted the bodywork bracing myself, the boot mechanism jammed. I kicked it to get out and shattered the lock and hinges."

Mattie rolls her eyes.

"And coming home my weight must have distorted the body more."

David waves the phone. "It's a yes then?"

"Are you offering? If so yes."

He switches to the phone app, "Did you hear that Carl? Yes, it's a yes. Looking forward to it, thanks." He hangs up, "I knew Carl from his Persona days. If only the rest of life was so easy to fix."

Mattie frowns, "You've just ordered one?"

"Provisionally ordered at half past when they opened, just confirmed."

James does his limited smile. "My brothers and I are going quarters with David."

Mattie frowns harder. "You have money?"

"Your brother said you dreamt about us."

"I did. Briefly. I didn't get much other than what you looked like."

James Two undoes a zip on his chest body armour. "So you don't know about this? It's a universal currency." He pulls out a gold ingot. "It's for when we're on missions abroad and need to secure transport and the likes. Securing and ruining transport counts I think."

"Frigging hell. How much is it worth?"

"May I use the WiFi?"

"Sure, whenever you want."

"At today's rates.. five hundred grams, sixteen thousand five hundred.."

" _Bloody hell!_ You carry _half a kilogram_ of gold worth _sixteen grand_ on you? _All of you_?"

"Fuelling another country's army aircraft for a long flight doesn't come cheap. And then there's the other over _heads_.."

James Three turns to look at his brother. "If you see one of us fall in combat you'll see two things happen. The first is to eject the processing core, the second is to grab the gold."

"What? Eject?"

"Eject. A quick cut to the chest, pull a panel out of the way and out he pops. We always save the wounded when we can."

"You've done it?"

He nods. "Over- _heads_. Two's in his second body. He was fighting a tank.."

Mattie looks at Two with a degree of disbelief "A tank? You took on a frigging tank?"

"I was winning too. Then some bastard blows my head off with an anti-tank missile. We have field serviceable eye replacements, not heads."

The others unzip their pouches, all three bars are handed to David.

He smiles, "Change in three equal sized smaller bars?"

~~~

Mattie left them to talk about head upgrades and returned to the workshop.

"Morning Babes!"

"Hi Ems, how's tricks?"

"Good. Danny's got all the firmware and IOS sorted."

"Fab."

Karen walked over to them from the store cupboard and sat down. "Good morning ladies."

"Frig. That's a nasty gash."

"David says you have some new skin pack formulas?"

"Yeah, something he and Fred have been working on. You can have a HECLS body if you'd rather?"

"Skin packs will be fine. I'll take a rain cheque on the body if I may?"

"Sure. Pete okay?"

"He's in the living room talking to your visitors."

"Which ones?"

"The astronauts."

"Bump David for me, ask him to dig a pack out."

Danny yawns, "And tell him the switch is ready for the Odin exam."

Mattie did a three sixty. "Where's Radiant?"

"With her mothers in the kitchen. They're talking to Mia, Toby, Sophie and Renie."

~~~

Leo entered holding two glasses of juice. "I took a nice long walk through the woods to the village, got some fresh oranges." He winks at Mattie. "Anyone else fancy a glass? You can't beat fresh OJ."

Emily smiles, "I'll have some orange juice."

Leo looks at Mattie and does a faint grin. "One more for an _OJ_ , anyone else?"

Danny notices Leo's belt. Orange. "Yeah.. I'll have _OJ_."

~~~

Just gone half nine Dozer appeared with a shipping container and crane on the low loader. The container was dropped over the trees onto the grass. James One opens the doors to find it packed with scrap metal, rope, welding kit and an old Austin Mini. "Nice! Thanks Dozer!" 'Lads! We've got an unloading job to do.'

As Dozer drove the low loader away with the crane a man from Sevenoaks who'd been patiently waiting in the blocked road pulls into the drive.

Odi sees the trade plates via his cameras, zooms one, bumps, 'David. There's a man to see you.'

David sighs, 'Who now? Oh! Car! Can you tell him I'll be five minutes please?' He watches the status output refresh in Leo's SSH login to NASA1. "Direct to archive at full wire rate. Most impressive Mr Candlin, most impressive!"

"Thanks."

The output returns to the command line. "Miss Watson, you're done, now you Sophie and we'll have the full set of HECLS ladies, minus Laura. Leo, can I leave you to do all the men please?"

~~~

At a minute to eleven Kaza and Simon open their eyes.

Kaza smiles. "It's confirmed. Odin was behind Miaz and the bad synths. Mattie, can you get me an inexpensive laptop we can dump a lot of transcripts and images onto for evidence?"

"Sure, if someone can drive me to the shops?"

The real David stands, "I'll take you. In your mother's new car. I've got a policy in my name for a few days while she sorts out her own insurance."

Toby leans sideways to whisper to Mia, "Want to go for a ride? It looks lush."

Mia does a tiny nod, "Do I ask or you?"

"I'll ask." He clears his throat, "Mind if Mia and I come for a ride?"

David looks at Mattie. "Your call."

"Come on then."

~~~

[Chapter-120](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-120-1)


	120. Chapter 120

Mattie put her seat back a little. "Still got enough room Tobs?"

"Yeah, plenty. Does Mum know yet?"

"I've not told her. David?"

"Not me."

"How are you going to break the news then?"

"Um.. not a scooby. Ideas?"

~~~

Sophie, Renie and Radiant were sat on the floor in the living room cutting pictures out of old magazines to make a collage.

Renie placed another product on the pile. ".. just like veggie burgers, decaf coffee, caffeine free coke, sugar free gum, no alcohol lager and nicotine free vapes."

Astrid look shocked, "That's harsh!"

"My father wasn't a proper father. He looked like a father, sounded like a father, he didn't behave like one. Was I just unlucky?"

Miami nods, "Nobody gets to pick their parents. David wasn't much of a father to Leo first time around. He's slowly improving."

Niska is reminded that in the show girl body was a fork of Mia, her older sister. "He had his moments. Remember when we'd been teaching him about other countries, David got on his hands and knees and pretended to be an elephant?"

"Yes! Leo jumped on his back and rode him around the living room! That memory was long linked."

Radiant frowns, "What does long linked mean?"

Niska leans forwards and rests elbows on knees. "You're making memories of this meeting, the pictures you're all cutting out. In your memory you associate one thing with another, the same way original humans do. For example Sophie is sat to your left. She cut out the picture of a cat. Miami commented on the cat picture when it was added to the pile. In your mind those facts could be linked a number of ways. Long linked would be left, Sophie, cutting out pictures, cat picture, pile, Miami, comment."

"And some memories can be in even longer lines?"

"Yes."

"I see."

~~~

Leo strapped the helmet on Wrench, "Not too tight?"

"Nope."

"Good." He watches Pete unplug. "All done?"

"Done mate. I'm not great with computers yet, but that was fast." He hands the cable to Buzz Jr. "Your turn. We should have done Toby before he left." He watches Danny's machine making a board for NASA2. "What's the plan for the second archive?"

"That's going in the underground lab, I'll stick some other SFPs in the switch and run a long fibre connection between the two, have one copy its data to two."

"So you're not going to have three times the storage?"

"No. Data safety's more important. NASA3's going to be used to back up all the code HECLS create, photos and video, stuff like that. When we've got some more HECLS Synth Insurance plans bringing money in we'll make more."

Leo runs the code to gather Wrench's consciousness. The man winces. "Did that hurt?"

"For a split second, it's passed."

"The pain killers should have helped?"

Wrench pinches his arm, "Can't feel any pain there. Maybe the old grey matter's a bit more sensitive."

Danny watched the telemetry for NASA1. It was a hasty rework of Pinky's web page code. The stats all looked good. Amazingly good. But then years of work had led up to NASA1's design. His FPGA designs, home grown layout software plugins, deals with component suppliers for CPU, RAM, IO and other chips, his 3D printer that evolved into Alfie. There had been a ton of cockups along the way, he was human after all. But with smart coding he'd got things repeatable, not only repeatable but consistent. Thanks to some code input from Princess Emily they'd improved further. And her pin idea for the reflow oven, that was awesome. Team HECLS was awesome. He'd achieved a lot on his own before meeting them all, was expanding his knowledge and scope rapidly.

~~~

Mattie unclipped her seatbelt and turned to see Mia. "Are you love birds staying in the car or coming in?"

"We'll join you."

~~~

Radiant watches Odi enter the living room. "Are they all done now?"

"A couple more astronauts and Leo himself then they will be, with the exception of Toby. Poppy, are you free?"

"I am. What would you like help with?"

"A coach full of ladies have arrived, say they're here for belly and ear piercings?"

"Oh. We should set up an appointment booking system. How many?"

"Including the driver, seventy eight."

Karen looked shocked. "Not a small coach then! Have the SAS teams finished unloading their lorries?"

"They have, they're hosing them down as we speak."

Radiant looks at Odi. "What was in the lorries?"

Odi looks to Niska.

She smiles, "We only tell the truth."

Odi sits on the sofa. "An ancestor of mine was a platform prototype called Odin. He had a lot of faults and went bad. Very bad. When I had faults I stayed good. He got into the mind of some synthetics, removed the first two laws. He wanted all humans dead. Humans like your Mummy Astrid."

Radiant gasps. "No! Not Mummy!"

Niska looks at Astrid then Sophie, curious as to who she'd copied the reaction from.

Odi continues. "They were doing evil things, had to be stopped before they killed everyone."

"Stopped how? Are they in prison like the bad man Hobb?"

"No. They're dead."

"Dead? You mean powered off?"

Karen feels a wave of guilt. "Some were, those already injured. Those that tried to fight were shot."

"They were all old people like Hobb?"

"No." Tears roll down Karen's face.

"Karen? Were some like me?"

Karen's emotional breakdown had been brewing, Radiant's question kicked her over the edge. She burst into tears and wails. 

~~~

Pete gets a bump from Niska. "Excuse me lads, I need to see Karen."

Leo unstraps the helmet from Wrench, "Rocket, you're up."

~~~

Pete steps into the living room to see Karen totally distraught, her face wet with tears. He'd seen that look before. His death at Qualia.

"They were children! And we _executed them!_ "

He gets to his knees in front of her. "Kay. Kay. They were killers in the bodies of children. They weren't like Radiant, didn't have a personality, didn't know how to be nice. All they wanted to do was protect Odin however they could. If that meant hurting or killing others, they were ready to do it. You'd have got more than a long gash on your forehead if they were given the chance. And we had to be sure none escaped with a backup of Odin to start up again somewhere else."

" _I shot one that looked just like Sam!_ "

"You did? Shit." He reaches up and gently presses her chin.

Miami watched with dismay, Ed had powered her down like that. Her original. "What are you going to do?"

"Ask David to edit the memory. Not delete any of it, just do something with the memory of the boy's face so it doesn't look like our son. Hopefully that will make it less traumatic."

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then the deletes start, if needed go deeper. She can't work for STTF like this. And she'd see Sam and have a breakdown. Had I known what we'd find in that room I'd have gone alone."

Radiant bumps privately to her mother, kneels on the floor next to Pete and gives Karen a hug after tapping her chin. "You helped save me. Let me be your silver lining."

Karen sobs, "I didn't save you, I somehow missed shooting you."

"Maybe I developed a consciousness and knew right from wrong, didn't want to be a part of it? Could you have saved me because you recognised that? Where was I standing?"

Karen reviewed her memories in detail. Things had got hectic towards the end as the child synths realised they were losing. "At the back near the left rear of the equipment rack. You didn't look angry like the others. You.. looked frightened. Like you didn't want to be there?"

"Then you must have saved me through your inaction."

Niska smiled at her daughter, "That's some very grown up thinking Radiant."

Karen smiled at the girl who now was wiping her tears for her, "I think you may be right." A smile is given and the hug returned.

~~~

Mattie tried typing on the laptop. "Ergh. Look how the whole thing bends when you put pressure on the keyboard. What a load of shit. Talk about cheap rubbish. Still, if that's what Kaza wants to dump stuff on, that's what we'll get."

Toby looks at some of the better ones. "Why not get one of these?"

"It's only so she can show others the data without having to copy it onto other systems."

"This one's only forty quid more. And it doesn't look like it will break if someone sneezes on it."

"That one's way more."

"Nah, someone knocked the offer card off the shelf onto the floor."

"Oh. Okay then, one of those."

~~~

[Chapter-121](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-121-1)


	121. Chapter 121

David turned into the estate and spotted the long queue in the distance. "What on earth.."

"Frigging hell!"

Toby leaned sideways to see, "It looks like they're all women?"

"Careful Tobs, you don't want to upset people by labelling them."

"Eh?"

"Niska and Astrid went on some training about LGBTQIAPD for their Be Nice Party."

"Do what?"

"Lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual or aromantic, pansexual or polysexual, demisexual.."

"You're having a laugh."

"Am not. Do you know if you had your bits cut off and grew some boobs, you'd get a certificate of gender reassignment. It's _illegal_ to ask anyone if they have one or to ask to see it. It's considered sexual harassment. They can show it to you if they wish, but they have to bring the issue up."

"Noted. What the hell's a demisexual?"

"A person who doesn't experience sexual attraction unless they form a strong emotional connection with someone. I think."

"So what do you call someone you're not sure about?"

"They. Or by their name."

"Oh. Actually that's good. I've felt uncomfortable calling Michael he. It's all a bit messy. Thanks to all of Mia's forking in some ways I'm sharing my girlfriend with Mum, Prince James, some arsehole called Jack in America and a load of other people I don't even know."

"For a ex-knob you seam to be coping alright."

Toby's brain flipped. He sits back and turns to Mia, frowns, he mimes _Did she just.._

Mia nods.

Toby does the high eyebrows of surprise. Ex knob? When did that happen?

~~~

David lets them all out then goes to park at the far end of the drive.

"That's frigging weird."

"Mats?"

"I just got this strange feeling there should be an aircraft hanger. Over there." She points.

"Another dream?"

"Nope."

"Voices?"

"Not even a boo."

"Maybe there should be? Getting stuff in by road is a nightmare. Unless we cut down a load of trees long vehicles can't turn into the estate."

~~~

They walk towards the queue. The person at the end turns and yells, "GIRLS! MATTIE'S HERE!"

The orderly queue disintegrates and becomes a crowd that surrounds Mattie, Toby and Mia.

Toby grins, "I can use a label if someone else gives it and they all accept it right?"

The girl that had shouted holds out her hand, opens it to show jewellery to Mattie, "What do you think?"

"Um, nice. Why shout my name?"

"You made all this happen."

"Mia and her team made the building."

"You started HECLS. You're our role model."

"Um.. thanks I guess, I'm sure there's better ones."

"You're young like us. You like jewellery too."

Mattie glanced down at the coffee bean pendant she had back on its chain around her neck. She had plenty rings and bracelets on too. Strange things to focus on. "You're all here to see Poppy and David for piercings?"

"We are. Sally-Anne said we should come here."

"Cool."

"How much is it?"

"I'm not sure, you'll need to talk to Poppy."

"You don't set the prices?"

"No. We're a team. I need to get this laptop to my friend if you don't mind. I hope you're all considering HECLS insurance plans? If you take one out you can get a backup done today."

"Persona say.."

"We're HECLS. And David Elster is with us not Persona. How did you all get here?"

"Coach. It's half a mile down the road as it couldn't turn in."

"We need to do something about that. Say hi before you all go okay?"

"Okay Mattie."

The group goes from crowd back to the orderly line, everyone back in the same place.

David joins them. "Seventy eight in one visit. That's bonkers. Good bonkers. Pete's in the workshop waiting with Karen. Shall we?"

Toby frowns as they follow him in, "How'd you know the number?"

"I spoke to the lady at the back of the line. She's the coach driver."

"Coach driver? Jeez, if that's what coach drivers look like these days I've been getting the wrong coaches."

Mia ruffles his hair, "Do you enjoy seeing so many in belly tops?"

"Um.. yeah. Why don't you wear belly tops?"

"I didn't know you'd like them Toby. I do now."

"Let's go shopping, get you something designer. After I've helped manage this lot for Poppy."

Mattie turned briefly, "You remembered then?"

"Yeah, I was shocked you didn't slap me harder."

~~~

Inside David opens the workshop door and lets Mattie in. They find Karen sat on a chair, clearly powered down.

"Eh? What's happened?"

Pete gives them a glum smile. "Kay had a mental breakdown. Then went nuts after I powered her down and Radiant powered her back up. She calmed down and voluntarily powered down. She needs a memory fixing."

"Of?"

"Killing a child synth that looked like Sam."

"Frig! David? Can you?"

"I can. You said fixing not deleting. What do you want changed?"

~~~

Toby knocked on the medical room door. "Can I do anything for you Poppy?"

"Are you any good with pliers?"

"Yeah."

"Come in then."

Toby steps in and closes the door, turns to see a Poppy synth on her back with a needle through the nipple of her right breast. "Um.. I think one of the others might be better suited." He turns to open the door.

"Toby. I need a man with a strong grip."

"Even still."

Poppy smiles. It wasn't David's Poppy clearly, she was sat on a chair. This one's hair was different, unmodified, "Don't be shy."

"Niska's got a stronger grip."

"She's busy. And I thought you wanted to help?"

"I do but.."

David's Poppy stands, "If I put a surgical sheet over Poppy with a keyhole would that make it less uncomfortable for you?"

"Um.. a little."

"Good. We'll try that."

He watched her go to a free standing metal draw unit. "I thought I'd help manage, not have to do this sort of thing."

The Poppy on the operating table lifts her head. "If you're really uncomfortable with it we can ask someone else?"

"I.. I've seen plenty pictures of other women in the past, the thought of having to touch one.. I'm.. I'm happy with Mia."

She smiles, "Mia just told me she's fine with you doing it."

"She did?"

"We've been sharing the whole time."

"Oh. Ask her why she's not in here doing it then."

"I did. She said you've got hands that can hold firmly and be super gentle. She said you'd know what that meant?"

Toby goes a little hot in the face. "Yeah, yeah, I know."

Poppy gets a sheet from a draw and measures with her hands, cuts a small square out. It's placed over the other Poppy and lined up. "There. Better Toby?"

"A bit. So what do I need to do?"

"We tie a small knot in the stitch and pull it around like this, pull the needle and stitch knot through like so leaving a few centimetres of the stitch thread loop. We twist it to create a loop that will close down around the stud. Like this."

"Okay?"

"With the stud attached you then pull it through."

"Wouldn't it be easier to undo the stud end, push the stud through and do it up?"

"With it pushed there's a slim chance it will try and take another direction. This way there's no sharp bits that can drift inside and nick sensor wires."

"But the ball from the studs okay?"

"Bigger but smooth edged."

"Hmm."

"What are you thinking?"

"The filament David and Danny used for the hair mods, it's a hollow tube. If you heat it, it shrinks. If we had thicker tube and gently heated the stud so the tube closed down on it, heated the other end and stretched it, you could thread it with a needle. When you pulled it through it would pull the stud through, nice and gentle with no risk of damage."

"So I could do them mostly by myself? Good. Bumping.."

"David?"

"Danny."

"He's got his thing on?"

"His bump to speech device, yes. Very useful. He says he'll have to be given a inner diameter and do some research, so won't have it today, he's only got standard hair filament or solid printing filament."

"Oh. How many of the seventy eight have you seen already?"

"Nine. Including Poppy here."

Toby takes a deep breath. Hang on? Seventy eight minus nine? "Is this a test?"

"A test? Isn't the whole of life a test?"

~~~

[Chapter-122](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-122-1)


	122. Chapter 122

Danny watched the board slowly passing through the reflow oven. "Sweet Pea, that pins idea of yours.. bloody brilliant!"

Emily does a little girly happy shrug, "Thanks Babes."

Sophie frowns, "Pea?"

"Yeah. Princess Emily Awesome." It gets a giggle.

Alfie was busy on another board. Not NASA3, Another Alfie. For the car parked at the far end of the drive.

"Danny?"

"Yes Mia?"

"How's he doing?"

"Poppy says he's being most professional. He's got the first one done."

Renie wasn't comfortable with what she was hearing. "Toby's been nothing but a gentleman with me, why are you doing this to him?"

Mattie picks up an envelope. "How well can you keep secrets?"

"From who?"

"Toby. How long Dan?"

He checks Alfie's status display. "About twenty minutes?"

Mattie holds the envelope out and snatches it back a few centimetres as Renie goes to take it. "Promise?"

"If only for twenty, I promise."

~~~

Nurse Poppy looked at patient Poppy, "Okay, that's the LED check and needle insertion done, we just need to loop the thread and pull again Toby."

"Okay." He does as before. The small ball on the stud end pops through. "Easy. Are you _sure_ you couldn't have done."

There's a knock on the door cutting his question short, "Toby!"

"Odi?"

"I need your help!"

Toby looks at patient Poppy, "Was that all you wanted?"

"It was. Thank you."

"If you don't mind Poppy I'll find out what Odi wants."

"Have you got your Smartwatch on?"

"Yeah."

"I'll bump a message if I need you again."

"Thanks."

~~~

In the corridor he finds Odi in a bit of a flap, "What's up mate?"

"The James are having an argument over who has a new head first."

"What do you expect me to do about it?"

"They wouldn't listen to me. Get them to calm down before one of them breaks Laura's new car."

"Where are they?"

"Stood around it."

"Shhh.." he looks towards the building entrance and the long line of patients queueing for Poppy. "..ugar. I hope I can talk loud enough, I'm not getting close if they're angry." He steps towards the front of the building.

~~~

James One growls and waves a fist. "I'm one! You're two! Show me a numbering system where people count two, one, three!"

Three waves an arm, "He can't! But I can show you _plenty_ examples of three, two, one!"

Toby stood at what he hoped was a safe enough distance. "Guys?"

James One turns, "It's the fleshling. Think you can do better than Odi do you? Fuck off!"

Three moves around the car. "He's a Hawkins, don't tell him to fuck off!"

One moves clockwise to distance himself from Three. "I can tell whoever I want, whenever I want, to fuck off. There's laws that say I can. They might not like it, but that doesn't take away my right to say it. It's called free speech."

Two moves to get a roughly equal distance from them both. "I like it here, no wankers with anti-tank missiles to blow your head off. The digging work may be messy but there's a lake. We can build things to go on the lake. Don't mess it up for us One!"

"Eject some spare eyes and pretend you've grown a pair. You're not getting a new head first Two, unless it's over my powerless core."

Two steps closer to the car, "That can be arranged."

"I'd like to see you try!"

Toby risks a step forwards, "Guys! There's an easy answer!"

"I told you to fuck off!" One takes a step towards Toby.

Toby holds his ground. "I will in a moment, hear me out. We can build _three_ heads at once. You can _all_ be first."

"No such thing as three firsts."

"Sure about that? Got WiFi from here?"

"We have."

"Look it up then."

"Look up what?"

"Joint first."

"Okay.. That says two people came first, the next third."

"The same concept works for three over the finish line at exactly the same time."

"We've been told about your build machine. It makes one body at a time."

"So for you I design a three headed alien, something that could be in the film I watched with Mia. The build machine makes that, we take the three heads and fit them all at the same time. David could do yours One, Danny do Two and I do Three."

"Think you can fit a head do you?"

"I can learn. If I can do a couple of piercings for one of the ladies then I think I can do a head."

"Piercings? That makes you qualified to do heads does it?"

"You'll have to trust me, getting over fears about touching a woman's nipples when she's not you're girlfriend.. If I can do that a head for one of you will be easy."

"You're on kid. Before you go inside I want your opinion on something."

"What's that?"

~~~

[Chapter-123](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-123-1)


	123. Chapter 123

Ten minutes later Toby was hosing mud off his trainers. James One had demonstrated the digging machine they'd made out of the mini engine. With the spark plugs towards them the right hand drive shaft had just been welded solid at Toby's suggestion so only the left one would turn instead. That way the wheel that had been stripped of a tyre and turned into a cutting tool could get at the clay and stones without the radiator and fan on the other end getting too close. A bent up and reshaped bonnet was now keeping the engine mostly free from dirt.

A Sally in bright pink mesh top gives him an excited little clap. "Well done Toby!"

"For?"

"Getting them to stop arguing."

"Oh that. Have you all got a good charge? I can bring out cables?"

"We're all good at the moment thank you Toby."

"Cool."

"You're wanted in the living room, Renie needs you."

"Thanks. If anyone needs anything just head bump ask. You'll find my Smart watch as _No Probs Tobs_ if you think about it."

"No Probs Tobs?"

"My sister hacked the code so it can receive short messages." He walks towards the living room, "Any reasonable requests accepted."

A Cindy sighs, "I suppose being your girlfriend for the night and seeing Mamma Mia is out of the question?"

"Sorry, I'm spoken for, would never go behind Mia's back."

A Sally steps out of the line. "How about a selfie?"

"As long as if it goes online you say where and why it was taken, don't make any false claims."

She pulls out her phone and gets it ready. "I'm having my nose pierced, will you do it for me?"

"Your nose? Where?"

She touches the side.

"Some girls at my school have had that done."

"So you'll do it?"

"If Poppy needs help, sure."

"I'll have the photo after then if that's okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Unless there's anything urgent I'll see what Renie needs and be back as soon as possible."

Toby opens the door to see the room full. Everyone on site from the extended family was there bar Poppy. Renie was grinning. "What's going on?"

She steps forwards with Mia, they take opposite corners of the envelope. "This is for you."

"What is it?"

Mia's loving smile appears, "Open it Toby."

He does as asked, pulls out a slip of paper.

~~~

_To: Toby Hawkins_

~~~

_Congrats on becoming HECLS Operations Manager (Part Time)_

~~~

_Love_

_Everyone_

~~~

Along the bottom was everyone's signatures.

~~~

"Eh?"

Mattie gave him one of her cheeky smiles, "I was going to write Toby Hawkins EKC but thought it best not to label."

"Operations Manager?"

"Yeah. I'm CEO, Odi's in charge of Security and Deliveries. You did a good job of dealing with two challenges."

"So it _was_ a test?"

"We knew what Poppy wanted, got the others agreement to move her up the line."

"And the James?"

"They improvised. Were they any good?"

"Yeah, they were good."

"And you came up with two solutions, one for the piercing, one for the heads. Danny's had Alfie mill out a mould for making the tube pin thing you thought of. Poppy's trying out the first one now."

"Wicked."

"We can't pay you a lot at first but the title will come with a salary."

"Thanks Mats."

Danny smiles, "Well done mate."

"I didn't really do much."

Leo pats him on the shoulder, "You did enough."

Mia gives Toby a kiss on the lips. "Well done Toby."

Odi smiles, "Well done Toby. We have visitors."

"Who now?"

"From the vehicle I would say Barbara."

Karen smiles, "Sam!"

~~~

Sam was sat in the back seat of Barbara's car. He'd been spending the last couple of days with her and Cindy. They'd had a lot of fun. He wanted to show everyone what Cindy had made for him.

Cindy turns and parks. "Ready Sam?"

"Ready!"

Karen came racing out of the front door as Sam's door opened.

Sam unbuckles his seatbelt and takes a slow motion step out of the car.

Cindy bumps to Karen, gets her to slow down.

Sam was an astronaut. They'd made a Sam sized version of the space suit Ron had sketched.

Karen laughs, slows her movements too as if in a low gravity.

She meets him a few meters from the car. "Ground Control to Major Sam. You look great!"

"Major Sam to Ground Control, you look very happy to see me?"

"We'd had a busy couple of days. Give your Mum a hug."

Sam gives her a good hug. "We had a lot of fun. We watched a few space films too. Who's that?"

Karen frowns and turns, "Ah! Sam, come and say hello to Radiant Kiss. Astrid and Niska's daughter."

"They have a daughter? I didn't know that."

"They adopted her this morning."

"Can she be my friend?"

"Ask her, she's nice." Karen lets go, "Does the visor lift up? If not take the whole helmet off."

Sam undoes the two clamps holding it tight against the collar of the suit, lifts it off. "She's got a funny name."

"Take the letters from Astrid and Niska and jumble them up and you can put them in a new order to spell Radiant Kiss."

"That's nice. Karen, Pete.. Ant Keeper! I could be Sam Ant Keeper!"

Karen gives him a laugh, another hug and a kiss. "Go say hello."

~~~

[Chapter-124](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-124-1)


	124. Chapter 124

Buzz looked at his watch. If he didn't get a move on his new self would be stepping out of the build machine before he was ready. Second again on such a historic moment? No way. Not this time.

He started a web browser and went to the Neural Lace Alliance web site URL in the quick start guide. It offered three options; Sign In, Create Funded Account, Create Private Account. He looks back at the guide. It confirmed which he needed. He clicks on the private option.

He fills in his name, date of birth and email address and the long alphanumeric serial number from the compute block.

The page refreshes to show a picture of the compute block he had and some stills on how to connect it and turn it on. It asked that he do so and press play on the video below when done.

Buzz might be old but he was still a quick learner. The magnetic connector was attached to the back of his head, the block disconnected from the charge cable and connected to the lace interface cable. As he powers it up he gets a funny head for a second. He mouses over the play icon and clicks.

~~~

The video fades from a title page to scene of a man and woman sat at a table. Buzz gasps. He knew the woman.

~~~

_Hi, I'm John Cooper._

_And I'm Ruby._

_Welcome to the Alliance Platinum Users Club._

Ruby smiles. _As an APUC member you get access to all our early software releases, a private encrypted cloud storage of fifty terrabytes, world wide emergency medical care, replacement for lost or damaged parts within twenty four hours and free membership to the gym of your choice._

John nods, _And a number of clubs around the wold for those who like to dance._

Ruby nods, _And if you do we hope to see you at one of them soon. John and I developed this video especially for APUC members. If you watch closely and do the things we ask you'll be up and running with your block in half an hour. The elements layer, so please no skipping ahead, you'll only end up having to start again which will take longer in the end._

John points downwards. _At the bottom of the video you should see a link. Click it please. We'll wait._

Buzz mouses to it to click. "Timed this have you?"

_Yes_

He looks back up and frowns at Ruby. She laughs, _In our response group testing most people asked if we'd timed it, we're assuming you've done the same. A page should have loaded in a new tab, there should be a window asking you to approve the installation of some code._

Buzz clicks pause and skips back to play that again. Click.

_wait._ Link clicked. _Yes. In our response group testing most people asked if we'd timed it, we're assuming you've done the same. A page should have loaded in a new tab, there should be a window asking you to approve the installation of some code._

He clicks to approve. Watch checked he waves them on as if he could speed up the video.

_Okay John, our server should be updating the block code to the very latest APUC firmware. We've got some cool tricks for you kids with Bluetooth controlled toys, watches and phones. Can you take the user through the first of the tests while it downloads please?_

_Of course dear. Buzz Aldrin, please follow these instructions to the letter._

There had been a lip sync issue when his name was spoken, the local software had synthesised his name in the audio gap in the video. A tiny detail but nice personal touch. 

~~~

Emily hung on Danny's shoulders, "Who's voice are you giving A3?"

"I don't know Princess, any ideas?"

"She liked the old UK male Siri voice."

"The first one?"

"Yeah, the original."

Danny searches, "Jon Briggs. He didn't know? That sucks. I wonder.." He taps away, "Represented by Excellent Talent. Worth a shot. 03452 100 111."

He dials. "Hi! Yes, I was wondering if it's possible to license the use of Jon Briggs voice please, _with_ his knowledge of how it will be used. Thanks."

~~~

Radiant tried on Sam's space helmet and did a slow moon walk with the astronauts pretending they were all on the moon. Sophie beamed. "If only we could do that for real. Mia would love it."

Buzz Jr stops and stands. "We could. Once the Sky Lift is finished. Once we're at the edge of space we'd need far less rocket power to escape Earth's gravity and get there. And with our young Computer Renie I'm sure we can work out the math for a successful orbit and landing."

~~~

Barbara and Cindy were in the bedroom with Mia. Toby had been given strict instructions to stay out and manage the queue of ladies still waiting for their piercings.

"About there?"

Mia looked in the mirror. "Two centimetres lower please."

Barbara pinned. "Okay. If you could get back into the dressing gown we'll make the alterations."

~~~

Poppy pushed the LED into a Sally's belly button and checked sensor wire positions. "Sally's a very popular model."

"Thanks."

"This shouldn't hurt at all." She slides the needle into the skin. "All good?"

"I could sense it from pressure on surrounding sensors, no issues though."

"Good." Poppy takes the piercing from a tray and undoes the ball at the end, drops it into the tray. She gets one of the special ultra thin cones inspired by Toby's comment and warms it from a distance with Mia's cooking blowtorch. With it holding the piercing tight enough she heats the point and pulls with pliers. A long thin wispy strand forms.

With the thicker end cut she threads it and gently pulls everything through. "There. Easy." She grips the piercing between thumb and finger and yanks the plastic off. "If you could put a finger on that to hold it in place. Thanks." She gets the tiny ball and screws it on. "There you are. It looks lovely. What else did you want done?"

"My ears please. Then my nose."

~~~

Toby ran a long extension lead from the cleaner's socket in the hall to a Cindy model, plugged in a charger and held out the charge cable. "There you go. Anyone else need a top up? We'd need to get you a taxi home so you didn't hold the group up but David can do food processor mods for anyone who'd like to eat rather than plug in to top up. He says he has eight units in stock at the moment."

A Poppy raises her hand, "How much are they?"

"All the prices have been added to the HECLS web site and a booking form. First come first.."

"Sold! I've got the first appointment!"

"I'm next!" Toby turns to see an excited Sally closer to the medical room.

"I got the last one!"

He turns back to see a synth model he'd not noticed before waving. Spanish looking, lots and lots of slightly curly black hair. "All eight in seconds? Cool. I better let David know."

~~~

Mia changes again and looks in the mirror, turns left then right slightly, then sideways on. "I love it, thank you so much."

Cindy smiles, "You're welcome."

Barbara hands her a little box. "I think this fits your description."

~~~

Mattie finished the script and ran it with the word debug as a parameter. A second later phones chimed. "You should have a notification in your Pushover app, the icon's a disk drive in red."

Danny picked his phone up off the desk and checked it out. "NASA1. Drive fifty three failure?"

"Yeah, that's simulated though."

"Want me to pull one of the spares?"

"If you're okay with it?"

"I'd feel more comfortable knowing it works for real." He gets up and goes to the chassis. Disk sixty three is pulled. A second later both of their phones chime.

Mattie checks her phone rather than the console. "Sixty three?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

"I like this app. Is it easy to set up?"

"Once you've set up the app and initial key yeah. After that it's an API call with a token and text. I'm using a simple Perl script. Their web site takes the API call and pushes a notification out to all the relevant devices. Leo found it. You love it don't you Bunny."

Leo grinned and called the API, a moment later a red heart and text appeared at the top of the app.

Danny laughed, "Soppy notifications too eh?"

Emily got her head out of the art she was doing. "Say what?"

~~~

Toby turned to see who'd called his name. The Spanish looking synth was waving. "Toby, I need your help."

He walks over, "What's up?"

She grabs his hands, "I need your input again." Other girls step out of the line and gather around.

~~~

[Chapter-125](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-125-1)


	125. Chapter 125

Mia races silently down the stairs, opens the medical room door and gets inside.

'Thank you Poppy!'

'Was she able to get it?'

'Yes.' Mia hands over the small box.

Poppy opens it. 'Beautiful! Hop on, this won't take even a minute with Toby's invention. I'm getting very quick at using it. Cindy and Barbara worked fast. Has anyone else seen it yet?'

'No, they all turned to watch Toby as agreed and keep him busy.'

Poppy gets everything ready.

~~~

Danny looked at Mattie's script and the Pushover service web page. "It's practically the same as the service I've been using for the build machine. Although you can't upload your own icons on mine, just pick from a list they have. Can we add the build machine to it?"

"Easy. What do you want for an icon?"

"How about Leonardo's The Vitruvian Man?"

"That'll do. We can always change it later." She does a quick search, downloads a small image, creates the new application definition. "There you go. We just need to get a copy of my script with that token onto the machine."

"Cool."

~~~

Ruby was in the same dress he'd seen her in when visiting the doctor in London. She had that massive ruby stone on too. Buzz repeated the words as she instructed. "Block, compose email."

_Now tell it To and give it a name and email address. It will remember them so the next time you only need to think of the name._

"To Mattie. Mattie at H E C L S dot com." He drums his fingers. The people that they'd tested the video on had clearly spend time looking it up.

_Now think the word Subject and what you'd like as the subject contents._

"Subject It works!"

_And now the contents of your email. For this test we'll keep it to text only. Another video shows how to do attachments. Think Body Content and what you want to say. Think New Line if you want to start another paragraph. Think Send Email when you're done. This concludes our getting started video, we both hope you enjoyed it. If you have any issues feel free to do a live chat with an operator or join the forums._

The video played for another two seconds as they both waved.

"Body Content. Hello Mattie comma. New Line. I'm sending you this email just by thinking it! Hope to see you again soon. New Line. Love Buzz. New Line. PS. Call me when new me steps out. Send Email."

He perceived a beep a second later.

~~~

Mattie's phone chimed. Yet another new email. They we getting a lot of sign ups to the insurance plans. Yet nobody had come knocking for a backup yet. "Dan?"

"Yes?"

"Can you use your thing to get Tobs a message?"

"Sure."

"Ask him to remind them all if they've taken out the full plan they can come into the workshop for a backup before they leave."

"Okay." He taps his ear. "Danny to Toby. Don't forget to remind any of the ladies you're with that if they've taken the full plan out they're entitled to a backup before they leave." He taps again. "His watch acked it."

"Cool."

~~~

Toby heard the watch beep but ignored it. There was a vision stood at the end of the hallway smiling at him. There was a lady with her hair up, a Chinese looking outfit that looked like.. bloody hell.. it was. The dress she'd warn to Mamma Mia. It was now a fitted top and long skirt. The skirt sat low on the hips, the top ended a few inches above her belly button. And it was jewelled. He swallows hard, feels more than a little light headed. "Mia.."

"Hello Toby. You like?"

"I.. um.. I need new words. Like and love don't come close."

"Thank you Toby. I believe you just had a message?"

He looks momentarily dazed. "Huh?"

"Your watch beeped."

"Oh." He looks. "Backups! If any of you ladies have taken out the full insurance plan don't forget to have your full backup before you go."

A Clara model leans to see him. "We've not forgotten, we want to do that at the very end so the visit is in the backup."

"Are you.."

"A limited edition model to look like Clara Oswald? Yes. I'm four of five."

"There's five of you? Wow."

"I may be the last, I've not been able to contact any of my sisters since the bombings."

Toby does a wonky pout, "Hmm."

"Do you think you can find them?"

"We'll ask around."

"Thank you!"

~~~

He turns back to see Mia had stepped closer. He jumps not expecting her to be so close. "God you look good. And that goodness runs more than skin deep."

She reaches out for a hand, pulls him close and gives him a full on kiss.

The girls all give her a round of applause. A Sally steps out of the line. "I _adore_ that outfit, where did you get it? It's very elegant."

Mia keeps kissing Toby and points behind her to the staircase. Barbara and Cindy were coming downstairs with the sewing machine and their special tool case of things.

Cindy puts up a hand. "Don't all bump at once! We'll be in the living room if you'd like to talk to us."

Mia stops the kiss and winks at Toby, whispers, "She got that message through the screaming."

"Screaming?"

"It's a good job your watch didn't hear it."

~~~

Danny had yanked the earpiece out. "Jesus!"

"Babes?"

"Sounds like Mum and Cindy got a new load of customers for their fashion creations. And we should get Toby in here for a backup."

"Not later when Laura's home?"

"We can do more later, it would be an idea to get him in here now, away from Mia. He can calm down and get a backup done before he has a heart attack."

Leo gets a private bump from Mia and leaps out of his chair and starts getting the device ready. "Not good."

Mattie looks around, now concerned. "You what?"

Leo frantically plugs things back in. "Mia thinks he's having arrhythmia. It may end in her name but it's not good."

~~~

[Chapter-126](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-126-1)


	126. Chapter 126

Mattie forgets about sorting her busy Inbox and races to the door and yanks it open. Toby was looking happy enough but pale. "Tobs, can I see you in here a moment?"

He smiles and walks, a little unsteadily, clutches his chest. "Sure."

Mia gets to his side and slips an arm around his back and a hand under his armpit. "You don't look well Toby."

"I'm fine, honest, just a bit of indigestion."

Mattie gets to his other side, takes his arm and gets it around her shoulders, "Mia, can you take over in the hall please?"

"I'd rather help in here."

"Then go and put a jumper on."

"You think.."

"I don't know. Maybe."

Toby steps into the workshop and shakes his head, "No! Mia stays, as she is."

"Toby.."

"As she is or I'm saying no to the backup."

"What makes you think.."

"Leo's face and what he's holding."

Mattie turns to see, he was getting a syringe full of the fast acting pain killers. "Listen, you and Mum are the only ones without a backup. If you think you're having a heart attack on me before.."

"Not."

"Not what?"

"The only ones. Dad's not had one."

"We'll worry about him later. At the moment you're the priority. Sit."

Toby turns and flops into the chair. "What did I eat this morning that could have given me indigestion? Nothing different?"

Leo holds Toby's arm out and finds a vein. "This will sting."

"Whatever.. ouch!"

Mattie gets the helmet and puts it on his head, leaves it for Leo to adjust. "I'll check NASA1's good to go."

Danny frowns, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"No idea. I'm just.. I need to do something. Anything."

"No Pushover alerts, the telemetry page looks good. You could call an ambulance?"

"Yeah. We should get Toby checked out." She dials 999.

Toby frowns, moves like he's drunk. "The chest pain's fading. What's in that?"

Leo glances at the vial. "It's a cocktail Fred came up with, emergencies only. It's got some ketamine in it among other things."

Toby pinched his arm between finger nails. "Whoa.. the good shit. Or so I hear.."

Leo adjusts the helmet and does up the strap. "Starting the backup."

Toby beckons Mia over, "Sit here." He pats a knee.

"Toby.."

He tries to laugh, "If I'm dying like all your faces are implying then give me a last wish for fuck sake!" He was now slurring his words a little.

Mattie nervously tapped her heals waiting for the phone to be answered. The seconds ticked away.

Toby beckoned her again.

Mia sat on his knee as Mattie spoke to the operator. "Stay with me Toby." She runs fingers through his hair. "Your knee's more comfortable that the handle bars of your bike."

"That's good to know." He smiles, half out of it.

Mattie gives the address of the Elster Estate, explains the problem.

Leo checks his console. "It's running okay, talk to us Toby."

"I thought people were supposed to be quiet?"

"They're different. Tell us about Mia."

"Um.. she's the best thing that ever happened in my life." His head lolls forwards a little.

"And?"

"She's my Moon Girl. The astronauts need to get her to the moon once she's up at the top of the sky lift. You gotta build it Mats, you promise.."

"I promise, we're going to save the world and get you _both_ set foot on the moon. Buzz too."

"Cool."

Leo looks at the output of his father's code. "Tell us something else about Mia."

"She does the most awesome lemon drizzle cake, you've got to try it."

"I have. Favourite dish?"

Toby laughs, "Mia." He grimaces. "Something doesn't feel right."

Mattie puts down the phone, "Hang in there Tobs, there's a paramedic coming out on a bike."

He looks over to the cardboard mockup, "If I don't make it you're giving the ambulance service a few."

Mattie wipes tears, "Shut up you knob, of course you'll make it."

Toby smiles, "Dan mate. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion? I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments.."

"No way mate, not yet. Hang in there." He kept his eyes on the telemetry display, not wanting to make eye contact with Toby. "IO's just plummeted. Leo?"

"Backup's done. Maybe the ketamine helps?"

Toby takes Mia's hand, "Can you get up? Quick."

Mia does so, Toby starts to stagger across the workshop, Leo pulls the end of the cable out of NASA1 fast and lets go.

Toby gets to the large wheelie bin Danny threw his milling scrap in and lifts the lid, belches then projectile vomits multiple times.

"Ewww that's frigging gross!"

Mia looked horrified. "We could have the norovirus, we need to decontaminate everything!"

The smell was awful, "Tobs? How're you feeling?"

"Like shit Mats."

Danny and Mattie's phones chime, they ignore it.

The door clicks and opens, Odi shows the paramedic in.

"You were fast!"

She pulls a face, "I was in the area. Phew, what's gone off in here?"

Toby raises a hand, "Me. In the bin." He reaches again. "Sorry."

She looks into the bin, "All that came from you?"

"Yeah."

"What's that on your head?"

"What's it look like?"

"Something out of a science fiction film. Are you making a film?"

"Something like that, or were, Leo, can you get it off me please?"

While Leo does that she gets a sample pot and gathers some from the bin, seals it in a bag. "High internal gut pressure could have put your heart under unusual stress, caused your synth to misdiagnose."

"She's not _my synth_ , she's _my girlfriend_."

"Oh. Sorry. What's the kitchen like in here?"

"Brilliant."

"You'll need to close it and check everything, there's some nasty viruses going around. Did you touch any of the synths, sorry, ladies in the queue?"

"They touched me. I.. I helped a few earlier. Why?"

"If they've been touching things and not keeping clean they may have inadvertently passed the bug on. It can survive in the open for several hours."

Mia looks at Leo, "How many syringes do we have?"

"Hundreds, why?"

"We'll get them all to wash their hands in clean water, take a sample. I need to prove it's not our kitchen at fault."

The paramedic nods, "A good idea. You'll keep them all here until the results are in? This gentleman needs to get to hospital and on a drip to get fluids in, he's not over this yet."

~~~

[Chapter-127](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-127-1)


	127. Chapter 127

Sat in the hospital A&E waiting room after following the ambulance in an Uber Mattie gets back to her email sorting on her phone. "Thank frig. It wasn't a heart problem."

Mia gives her a guilty look, "Sorry Mattie, I misdiagnosed it."

"You weren't to know. If his heart was doing crazy shit because his guts were under unusual pressure and he was getting ready to pop.. I'd have done the same if I'd been able to see his vitals. Hell, it was a good job he did it where he did and not in the hall. You saved us a load of embarrassment." Mattie deletes a number of spam messages. "To think it's only a week since we were in Orlando? It feels like months. I'm going to need regular holidays if the pace keeps up."

"It's only been crazy because of Odin and Miaz. Now that's been resolved things should settle down."

"True."

A text came in from Danny.

Mattie reads it and frowns, goes to her notifications. "Oh crap. Buzz's build was ready." She replies asking Danny to wait for her return. She goes back to reading emails and putting them in folders. "Niska says she's getting backups done and taking samples from their hand washing. She says she's fine doing it, used to being disinfected?"

Mia nods, "The skin club, the brothel."

"Oh. Nasty." Mattie files more. "Loads more HECLS Insurance signups, they'll cover a salary for Tobs."

"Good. Thank you for doing that for him Mattie."

"I thought doing that would be safer than the paper round he was thinking of doing for the village news agents. I miss diagnosed too."

~~~

Fred, Max and Flash review photographs of what will be their trickiest Australian patient. She'd lost a leg just below the knee. Other than that it was superficial flesh wounds.

Flash does a pinch to zoom, bumps. 'That's too short for an artificial limb isn't it?'

Fred nods. 'Far too short. There's not enough bone to join onto without it being weak. If we're to do a partial James we'll need to take the knee joint off.'

Flash hands the phone to Max.

He passes it back to Fred. 'Assuming the bed sheets were white we know the skin tone. I'll do hunting for a suitably coloured leg once we're there.'

'Thank you Max.'

'I can understand why some humans hate flying, we've been in the air for more hours today than we've been on the ground.'

~~~

A nurse walks up to Mattie and Mia, holds out a slip of paper. "You can call Toby now if you'd like."

Mattie accepts it, sees just a phone number, "Can't we see him?"

"He's on an isolation ward being put in an air bubble. We can't risk what he's got being passed on."

"Frig. How is he?"

"Cracking jokes."

"Much better then." Mattie keys the number into her phone. "Um.. if we were to bring something could you get it to him?"

"Yes. He'll need clean clothes, we're incinerating the ones he was in."

"Really? Isn't that a bit drastic?"

"Routine precautions when there's a chance he's got a nasty superbug. Could any other family members have come in contact with it?"

"No idea. We're getting samples from everyone."

Mia makes a call home. "David, we need to ask the visitors to touch as little as possible. Wait a moment. If they're touching something common in the medical room it needs to stop. Yes. Paper sheets. And I need swabs of door handles for the fridges and ovens, any cutting boards in the dish washer that haven't been washed yet. Sorry, you wanted to say something?" She listens for a good few seconds. "Please! See you soon." She hangs up.

"Has he found something?"

"It's my fault."

"Eh?"

"David's been interviewing them all via bump talk. The Spanish looking one I asked to distract Toby, he thinks it's her. He found Fred's microscope, her hand wash sample is teeming with bacteria."

"Shit. You weren't to know. I bet she didn't either. Your skin's hydrophobic isn't it?"

"It is. I suspect you're right. They picked her up at the airport, a man grabbed her hand just as she went to board the coach."

"Crap. So we need hand wash facilities in the entrance."

"Yes. A small sink that gives them only a little clean water at first and a machine underneath to analyse what comes off would be ideal."

"Another of Danny and Emily's Alfie then."

"Yes."

"He could act as receptionist too, tell visitors about the HECLS services."

"He could."

Mattie hits the call button. "The thought of losing Toby was the scariest thing ever.. it's ringing. EKC, I've got Moon Girl here for you." She hands the phone over.

"Toby! How are you feeling?"

~~~

Leo taped a 'Do not open by order of Mattie' sign on the build machine and went back to work. The doors had been opened and a warehouse fan found from the come in handy store. The bin was now outside but the room still stank.

Danny turned to Leo, "I'm glad he's okay. That was fucking nasty. Mr Creosote nasty." He solders on a connector to help wire the board for Laura's Alfie..

Emily watched him burn his fingers. "Careful Babes. Has Mr Briggs replied yet?"

"No idea Princess. Can you check my emails?"

"Sure hun." She picks up his phone and unlocks it. "Would it be from him or via his agent?"

"Pass. Try a search on Excellent first."

"Okay. Excellent Talent. That's them isn't it. One new email."

"It is. What's it say."

"Um.. he'd like to talk to you. There's a mobile number for him."

"Cool. Can you put it on speaker?"

Emily dials and taps, turns the volume up.

"Hi Jon speaking."

Emily giggles and whispers, "Just like old Siri."

Danny grins, "Hi Jon, I'm Danny Candlin. I make a number of AI enabled products with help from my partner Emily and friends, we were after a voice for a car system. The owner is a big fan of the old Siri voice."

"That's nice to hear. How many units are you looking to make?"

"Very few. We're not doing this particular product as a mass market thing."

"Okay. You're coming to me first before using my voice which is appreciated. How do you want to proceed? A per use license?"

"You mean per installation?"

"Yes."

"Sure. How much?"

"I've not sold my voice in such a way before. What would you suggest?"

"I've not bought a voice like this either. Do you have phonemes files?"

"Just recordings of my voice. If you want other files you'll have to license it elsewhere."

"We've got software to break it down."

"Okay."

"How many hours of work was it to record them?"

"Two days."

"How about we pay for those two days. As if you had to repeat it? And a bit more."

"That would be good."

"Okay. If you could give us some bank account details and a figure we'll wire you the money. Do you have the files on a server somewhere?"

"On my hard drive."

"Can we talk you through uploading them to our server once payment is made?"

"You can."

"Awesome. Laura's going to love it."

"Laura?"

"Laura Hawkins the lawyer. It's for her new car."

"I'm going to be the voice of a car? May I ask which?"

"I'm not sure of the model. A high end Lexus."

"That's all I needed to hear. Can I have an email address please?"

"We'll text it to you."

"Thanks. Once you've split the audio up would you be interested in doing a joint licensing deal to others? I'm an actor not an IT specialist."

"Sure."

"Thanks. Let's stay in touch. Expect an email in the next ten minutes."

"Thanks Jon."

"By for now."

Emily sees the call end. "That was unreal. Like having a proper chat with Siri."

"Laura's going to love it. I hope he's got fast Internet, the audio files are probably massive."

~~~

Mia smiles, "Keep them laughing. Sorry you got infected. Good. I'll pass you to Mattie. Love you too."

"Toby, how are you doing? Good. Definitely bacteria? The antibiotics should do it then. What sort of phone have they given you? Oh. No pictures then. Any synths on the staff? Cool. Ask if one can bump an image to Mia. We're both in the A&E waiting room. Yeah. Okay." She holds the phone to her chest, "He's asking a Sally now." She listens again. "Have they given you anything to eat or drink or just the drip? Oh. Okay."

Mia gets her phone and pairs with it, sends it the image she'd just received. It's shown to Mattie.

"Frigging hell! They're that worried about it? We need to keep a close eye on everyone at home."

The image showed Toby in a bubble.

Mattie shook her head, "We've just got the image thanks. At least in there you can't catch anything from anyone else. Would they let us come and see you now you're in there? Yeah."

~~~

Flash stepped down and to one side and looked back at the aircraft, Max and Fred. "At last. I much prefer solid ground."

Max joined her and handed over her bag, "Me too. Do we have everything?"

Fred nods, "We do. Passport control then it's a short drive to the hospital." They all turn at the sound of something crashing onto the tarmac.

Max looks skywards. "Why? We had that crate moved around America without any problems."

Fred runs past men in high-vis jackets. "DON'T TOUCH IT!"

One ignores him and goes to pick up part of the crate.

"I said don't touch it! I don't want anything damaged more than it already is!"

"Struth mate! No need.."

"There's every need. This is equipment to help me perform surgery, hands off."

"Well aren't you the grumpy bastard."

"I SAID HANDS OFF!"

"I'm airport staff. You're a passenger, you don't tell me what to do."

"And I'm a world leading surgeon telling you not to touch the crate one of your staff pushed out of the cargo hold."

"I outrank you in this situation."

"I want to talk to your manager."

"Good luck with that he's.. bugger. He's in hospital. You're a surgeon. Your name wouldn't be Elster would it?"

Fred was amazed the man had taken so long to link the facts, decided insulting him wouldn't help matters. "I am he."

"As you poms like to say.. Oops."

~~~

[Chapter-128](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-128-1)


	128. Chapter 128

Mattie waved at Toby through what looked like an egg shaped zorb. "Bubble Boy and Moon Girl. There's a story title for you. When you're done with it can you roll away in it?"

"Thanks. I'd write if I had something to write with."

"Where's your phone?"

"At home on a desk in the workshop."

Mattie thought about the contents of hers. The VKS photos were in the safe app. "Want to borrow mine?"

"Nah, if you can ask for a paper and pen that'll do. You should get home Mats, I'm good, with a bit of luck I'll be back out tomorrow."

David bumps Mia from another part of the hospital.

She smiles, "Hopefully. I'll stay here with you Toby, Mattie can return with David. He's brought a few things for us."

"Yeah?"

"Clean clothes, your phone, a charger for it and me, Danny's bump thing."

"Cool! We should give it a proper name."

Mattie does a shoulder shrug and guilty smile, "Much as I want to be here I also want to see everything's okay at home. Especially with Soph."

"I'm good, honest Mats, Mia can keep you updated."

"Thanks. Any developments you let me know right away okay?"

Mia nods. "Of course Mattie."

"Can you tell him where we are? I'll wait for him here."

~~~

Danny got an email from Jon with a price. He turns the screen, "What do you think Princess, add thirty percent as a thank you?"

"Defo Babes."

He turns it to Leo, "What do you think?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, very good."

"You alright mate?"

"I was thinking about how the family would be if Toby hadn't made it and we'd not got a backup done."

"Devastated. Much as they were with you. Until David saved the day with that backup from Hobb's original lab. I would have been shitting bricks trying to get any data out of there."

Leo grins, "It's a good job he didn't have the food processor mod back then."

~~~

Buzz checks his email. No reply from Mattie yet. He should send an email to his children. Children. They were now busy adults running their own lives. It was time to get with the program and do some hunting, explore the digital world in ways he'd not been able to before.

Ruby and John had mentioned APUC forums. He sits back in his chair and gently rests his hands on his head. He'd installed the Synergy keyboard driver from symless.com, just as Ruby's Advanced Tricks Intro video had suggested. With his block set up on the same WiFi network he could now control the laptop mouse and keyboard with his thoughts. His block could also remember shortcuts, it would type the full address for him. He could also record macros so one thought would set off a chain of events. He'd set one up but not gone digging yet. Now was the time.

_Browse APUC Forum_

A new browser started. The URL was changed to the Alliance forum pages.

_Login_

As he was already a APUC member who'd logged into the main site the page redirected to the index page without asking for his details again.

_Page down. Page down._ " He looks at where the mouse should go and it starts to drift to the spot. _Click_. The page reloads.

It was a page full of posts about dance clubs and past events. He pages through hundreds of posts and selects one, Sam, Ruby and John raving. A new page loads with an embedded video. _Play_. He sat with his mouth open. This was how young people danced was it? He was somewhat shocked. He had to remind himself that this wasn't Mattie but a very energetic double.

He stops the video. Maybe he should come back to the forums later when he'd got over seeing so many gyrating young women. The International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. Yes, he'd focus on that for a bit.

~~~

The Max in Liverpool smiles at the latest synth to arrive. "Hello. You're here for your checkup as instructed by Miaz?"

"I am."

"Take a seat please."

As the synth sat a hand from behind the curtain quickly tapped her chin.

Max caught her as he'd done with the others that day. "Thank you Flash. Flash by name, Flash by nature."

She steps from behind the curtain. "Now I've had your training. Flash, specialist in cheese sandwiches, grazed knees, flower arranging and super fast power downs. She's number one hundred and fifty seven for today."

Fred plugs her into their laptop. "I wonder how many more we'll get visiting?"

Flash looks through a window in the door, "The corridor is empty."

"Good." He moves the x-ray device, "She's clean. A fast patch and she's good to go."

"Sixty four with explosives. A nice binary number. Could that really be it do you think?"

"It matches the number David says he recovered from Odin, he says the number the PI had was a bluff. Also sixty four in the US, the same in Australia. With Miaz and the sixty three we've fixed, sixty four. I doubt there's any more."

Flash frowned. "Why only the UK, US and Australia?"

"Flawed thinking? They're English speaking countries and Odin didn't have language packs. If there were more there'd be memories of it or we'd not come to the same total for all three places. Sixty four exploding synths in both America and Australia. The numbers are too good to be a coincidence."

Flash looks at the synth. "I hope you're right. I wonder how many more days we'll see them coming in?"

"Hopefully not many. One we've seen today did hitchhike all the way here from Cornwall."

~~~

Sophie wiped her eyes, smiles at the phone, "I was really worried."

"I'm fine now Soph, I'm worried for you."

"Spider let the visitors use his room, they've all taken turns to bleach and shower. It's stinks of bleach here now, but everything's been cleaned. Nis thought about the protocol they used to try and catch her, Karen's used it to find the man, he's getting treatment too."

"Good. I'll hopefully be home tomorrow. Is Mum home yet?"

"She phoned to say she'll be late."

"More time for Danny then."

Sophie sees him turn and say hello to someone else.

He turns back, "Soph, I'll call you back in a few minutes from my own phone, David's here."

"Okay."

~~~

[Chapter-129](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-129-1)


	129. Chapter 129

Mattie relaxed into the passenger seat and frowned at the email from Buzz. "I'm sending you this email just by thinking it? Hope to see you again soon. Love Buzz. PS. Call me when _new_ me steps out?"

David turns briefly to see her. "Buzz hasn't been restored yet."

"Leo knows not to, you're here."

"Which means that had to come from the original. _Bloody Lacers!_ "

"What? Not that Neural Lace thing Leo pointed out in the inflight magazine?"

"One of the reasons why some synth free towns and areas of London were set up."

Mattie stares at the email. "They didn't want synths about?"

"The Alliance wanted some areas that were synth free so they could do comparative analysis on the data back from the beta testers, see that synths didn't cause issues."

"Does Dad know this?"

"I doubt it very much. The true reason was kept hush hush."

"How do you know this?"

"I'm a top Alliance member. Or at least they think I am. I'm faking the data."

"Why?"

"To know what the competition are up to."

"But surely you'd need to have it fitted to get access?"

"I found a man desperate for money. He'd been really successful, had a problem not of his own making. He had it fitted, I removed it for him the day after. To the Alliance I'm Terry Strickland."

"So you're spying on them?"

"Have you heard the phrase keep your friends close, and your enemies closer?"

"Yeah. You think they're the enemy?"

"I did back then. And I have to admit I was suspicious of you when we first met."

"Me? Why?"

"You're the spitting image of one of the Alliance's top coders. And it's rather odd that Cindy Bexley, the lady who lectured on lace, helped make it a reality, was murdered. Then suddenly Ruby appears on the scene, doing work with little hints of Cindy."

"Odd?"

"I suspect they've been able to do with a human body what we've been able to do with synthetics."

"Backups?"

"Restores."

" _Holy frigging cow_. What Karen was after."

"Yes. Only human mind to human body."

"Do you think a synth mind could be pushed into a human body?"

"Why not? It's only data."

"Only data?"

"We're a collection of atoms that join together to form molecules. That join to form things like proteins or minerals. They form DNA or synth fluid, cells or transistors, all manor of small elements. They work together to form us, things of thoughts and actions. But strip us down to our base form and we're all just star dust, nothing more. The data describes how the elements come together. The data describes all of our thoughts."

"Watched The Matrix much?"

"A few dozen times. I was quite gratified to see their thinking followed mine."

"We're all living in a giant VR?"

"No, no, lord no. Well I hope not. I meant that if you understand the universe you can start seeing the data. Like finding Fibonacci in nature."

"Like the internal structure of sea shells? We covered that in advanced math. So you think he's going to be okay?"

"Buzz? Yes. Be prepared for emails from his dreams. The Alliance say some users don't unplug at night, get themselves into all sorts of trouble."

Mattie has a good chuckle, "That would make my sleep talking look like nothing. As you seem to be in a mood to confess things, were you the one that hypnotised me?"

"I wish I could say I was. No. I could have a look through your backup and see if I can work out who it might have been?"

"Haha! No thanks! Far too much private data in there."

"Such as why Leo has suddenly changed his taste in belts?"

"Um.. yes."

~~~

Sophie ran to the doors when Odi said the car was approaching. She gets them open and waves.

Mattie locks her phone. "Soph looks tired."

"Stress can do that to a person."

Danny steps out, a box in his arms.

"Cool, it looks like he's been waiting to get his hands on the car."

"This I'd like to watch."

"Me too."

David pulls alongside the entrance, winds down the windows. "If we jump in the back can we watch?"

"Sure."

David pulls up the handbrake, "All yours then."

Danny opens the passenger door, "I'll need access to the whole of the front and the boot."

Sophie gets in the middle seat, Mattie to her left and David to her right.

Danny gets an electric screwdriver and putty knife out, opens the glove box and starts dismantling the dash.

"Frigging hell. Done one of these before?"

"No. I paid a service engineer a load of money to get copies of his maintenance videos."

"How much?"

"Don't ask. Enough to make me want to suggest everyone gets a Lexus so I don't feel so ripped off."

"Ouch. HECLS can cover it."

"Already paid for by DCL. Don't worry."

~~~

Laura dropped a huge stack of files on her desk. "Fiona, I'm off home."

Fiona gets up and walks over, "I was getting ready to send out a search party. Before you go, we were wondering, would you like an assistant?"

Laura checks the contents of her handbag, "An assistant? I thought only the partners got assistants?"

Fiona sits on the edge of Laura's desk, playfully swings one of her shoes on the end of her toes. "Only the partners do."

Laura zipped up her bag, dropped her empty coffee cup into the bin. "Why would you offer me one then?"

Fiona grinned and waited for Laura to look up.

Laura got her bag over her shoulder and stepped around the desk, looked at Fiona. "Hmm?"

"Why do you think?"

"You think I can't cope? I know things have been tough with Joe not about, I've still been giving one hundred percent.."

"Laura."

"Yes?"

Fiona pats the desk, "Sit down a second."

Laura does as asked. "Sorry, there's been a lot going on at home this past week, I had a great weekend but it was over far too fast."

"I noticed the hair, would you like an assistant?"

"If you're able to bend the rules."

"No rule bending needed." Fiona smiles wider.

"Are you saying.."

"Yes."

"Bloody hell!"

"Go see your family. And have a think about who you want as an assistant. Partner."

"Can it be anyone?"

"That's already in the firm, yes."

"Okay. I'll let you know in the morning. Thanks."

~~~

Danny worked fast to get his connector into the back of the car's management system, the car's connector into the back of his. With his body upside down, shoulders on the mat he works to get a new retaining clip on to ensure everything stays put. Connector on he gets the right way up. "Thankfully the video covered that clip in detail. I'd have wasted hours on it otherwise."

With the carpet up he laid the long flat ribbon cable along the floor of the car towards the boot. "I'll need the rear centre seat out of the way for a few minutes to get this into the boot."

Mattie gets up, starts looking for a way to unclip the seats. "That doesn't look easy."

"It's not meant to be. This isn't the sort of car you load up with crap for the dump."

"What's the cable for?"

"Extra storage. The main SSD drives are on the module hidden in the dash."

"Can you do that tomorrow then?"

"I could. Yeah, let's save that. I'll get the carpets back down."

"So is he wired in?"

"He is."

"How'd you turn him on?"

Danny has a good chuckle. "I hope you meant power. Start the car. After that he'll stay on, drop into a low power standby when needed."

Mattie gets to the driver's side and pushes the start button. "You got all the audio processed?"

"Far from it. Jon's still uploading files. Emily started processing them as soon as the first transfer completed. We've got enough phonemes out to make basic words, some sounds and inflections won't be perfect at first, but this Alfie's got code to keep checking the DCL server for more. By the morning he should be perfect."

"Hello Daniel."

"Hello Alfie. You recognised my voice?"

"I did. May I enquire as to who else is with you?"

"You may. I have Sophie, Mattie and David with me."

"Good evening everyone. It is nice to have you here."

Sophie climbs between the front seats. "Hello Alfie, I'm Sophie. Can you stream music?"

"I can. I have access to everyone's playlists."

"Can you play mine?"

"I can."

~~~

[Chapter-130](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-130-1)


	130. Chapter 130

Laura gets into the black cab and does a mini fist pump. She'd worked bloody hard to keep her job on track, try her best to cope with family. Mattie had been a godsend. If it wasn't for her daughter she'd have lost it. The same daughter who'd been an annoying teenager not that long ago. The truth had set Laura free. That day on the bench in the park had changed everything.

~~~

Mattie gets out, "While you finish that Danny we've got a new body for Buzz to get into."

"Shame. I was getting used to him being in the Simon loaner."

As Mattie walks inside with David and Sophie she quickly replies to Buzz to say the new build was ready, they were about to get him transferred.

~~~

Buzz got the message seconds later and stuck two fists in the air. "First!"

~~~

Fred carefully unpacked the broken crate. "Look at this. We'll need to shorten Alfie to two thirds his length thanks to the bent extrusions. And drop some of the heads."

Their airport man turns his cap around, "Fix the boss up and we'll getcha some more. It might not be exactly the same."

"In which case we'd need to print new joining parts, a waste of time when we could be working on other things. Which one's your boss?"

~~~

Mattie plugged in one end of the belt cable to Simon Buzz while David connected the other to the port on the build machine via an adapter. "Ready."

David stood back. "Also ready. Buzz, run the code I gave you."

"How?"

"Think about it. Think Execute."

Mattie sat on a table next to Leo. "Where's the uniform for him?"

"Top shelf. I'll get it."

"Let me." Mattie gets back up and walks to the shelves and finds a broom, uses it to knock the folded uniform off the shelf. "We need one of those Dalek like mini steps for the shorter people like me. How long's this going to take?"

David leans back against the side of the build machine. "Not long at all. Synth to synth direct is marginally faster than via the switch, bit only by a few percent."

"Why?"

"Packet sizes. Direct we can extend the size to past jumbo Ethernet packet standards."

"Right." Her phone chimes. It's checked. "Mum's on her way."

"Good."

"Back in a sec."

~~~

Mattie hurries to the living room. It was packed. "Whoa. You're all still here?"

The Spanish lady smiles, "Si. I want to see Toby come home okay, my friends say we all travel together."

"He's doing good. I know what he'd say, get charging! We don't have enough for all of you so start topping up in shifts. Now please."

"Si Mattie. Mattie?"

"Yes?"

"Can David start the food processor upgrades soon?"

"I'll ask. Soph, any thoughts about dinner? Mum's on the way home, Mia's staying with Toby at the hospital."

"Um.. Pie and mash?"

Michael stands, "Marcus might not have enough left, we could try, let me call him. If he has I'll get a biker to drop them over rather than have Laura wait."

"Cool, thanks."

~~~

Danny got the last of the car's panels perfect after running a long set of wires from behind the dash to the rear view mirror. "And we're done. Everything still working Alfie?"

"It is Daniel. A nice addition, thank you."

"You're welcome. How are the phonemes coming along?"

"Emily tells me she has multiple parallel threads running to speed up the process."

"How.."

"She answered my call."

"Oh. Sweet. That's another thing tested then."

"I've also been able to speak with Odi. He will alert us to Laura's arrival."

"4G, WiFi, calls, audio, okay, how about we see you working the virtual cockpit display?"

"Did you give me the specifications?"

"It's a standard high resolution colour LCD display. They just give it a flash name for a car because of the multiple things they display on it. And they have a mask around it so it doesn't look rectangular."

"Can you start a video call with me, have the camera pointing at the display?"

"I can.."

"Please do. I'll display a grid initially and work out the masking."

Danny got his phone ready, gives the dash an odd look. "Would you say your awake?"

"That's an interesting coincidence. I only need to change one letter. I would say I'm _aware_. Awake? No."

"You're aware?"

"I believe so."

Danny starts the call. "We'll get all your extra storage hooked up tomorrow. If there any mods you think we should give you drop me a text."

"A cluster of cameras that can see all around like the drone me would be good."

A grid flickers onto the dash.

"You know about them?"

"I am a child of him. Emily tells me that each time she creates a new me she includes all of the advances she has made in previous versions. Technically I could have a conversation with the me in Odi's drone and cut him out of the loop. That would be the hight of rudeness, I'll allow Odi to do his job as I hope he'll allow me to do mine."

A line starts to trace out the edge of the mask.

"What do you mean?"

"I become security officer for anyone in the family outside who is within reach of my body."

"Like a body guard?"

"Yes. Their safety is my priority."

"Good. The mask is symmetrical."

"I can see that. One moment please."

Danny watches Alfie finish slowly tracing the outline of the left hand side, then race around the right. "Great. You should be able to sense the data the car is trying to get to the display. You can decide to pass it on as is, so the car's central computer updates it, or you can decide to augment the data to layer your own information over the top."

The display changes from graph to standard Lexus layout.

"Try adding something."

"Such as?"

"The name of the last track you played for Sophie."

ABBA: The Winner Takes It All appears in a line across the bottom.

"Nice. Good choice of font too."

"It matches theirs."

"I'm heading inside, you know the plan right?"

"I do Daniel."

"Good. See you later. Text me with any ideas."

"I shall do that."

~~~

[Chapter-131](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-131-1)


	131. Chapter 131

As they were getting close Laura slips her shoes back on. She needed a good long soak, her feet were throbbing. Summing up meant standing. And after the day she'd had summing up came late. The judge had decided to extend the day rather than come back for another.

The cab driver indicates, turns right and heads down the long drive. "Nice place to return to."

"It is. Especially if the weather is good."

"This is the one that got the record isn't it?"

"It is. Team Mia."

"The one in America looks good too."

"Sorry?"

"The restaurant makeover."

"I'm not aware of it."

"It's on YouTube. Nice car. Someone's going to get that stolen leaving the door ajar." He pulls up at the entrance. "Have a good evening."

"Thanks Bill."

Laura steps towards the doors and hears music playing softly. She turns to see the car. It was a nice looking Lexus. With a slightly guilty feeling she walks towards it to take a closer look.

The driver's window lowers. "Good evening."

"Bloody hell!"

"I am sorry, did I startle you?"

"Just a bit. Love the voice. Are you new?"

"I rolled off the production line this week. Take a seat, my owner won't mind."

She looks around. "Are you sure?"

"I have not known my owner very long, but I do know she wouldn't mind at all."

"She? Lucky cow. I wish I had a car like this."

"You do? Jump in."

Laura looks around again, climbs in. "I've just been made partner. Which means I get a parking space with my name on it."

"What is your name if you don't mind me asking?"

"Laura Hawkins. I'm a defence lawyer."

"Laura Hawkins. Searching.. searching. Ah yes. I believe you will know my owner very well indeed."

"Who is she?"

"Look in the rear view mirror."

Laura is startled, thought they were alone, doesn't see anyone behind the car, turns bodily to look, still doesn't see anyone. "There's nobody there."

"Look again."

Laura sits, checks the mirror. "There's nobody there."

"Turn the mirror to face you."

Laura frowns, does as asked.

"There she is."

"But I'm looking at my own reflection?"

"Exactly."

"I think you must be mistaken."

"No faults detected. You look beautiful Laura. We've been waiting for you to come home. Do you like your new car?"

Laura starts shaking with excitement. "You're mine?"

"James apologises, he ruined your old car getting a lift to rescue Karen and Pete."

"Rescue?"

"The Odin, Miaz and lake synths matter has been closed."

"Odin?"

"The family will explain. They're waiting look behind you once more."

Laura turns to see everyone waiting, Mattie with her phone to her ear. Her daughters rush forwards.

Sophie opens a rear door and climbs in. "Alfie's brilliant isn't he Mum!"

"Alfie?"

"That would be me. You can change my name if you wish."

"No, Alfie's perfect. Where's Toby?"

Mattie bites her lips. "Hmm." She looks at Sophie. "Tell you what, let's let him explain." She starts a video call. It's answered quickly. "Tobs? Mia's with you? In the.."

"Sure, she can't catch it, she'll do a Nis clean when I'm ready to come home."

"Okay, Mum's here, wondering where you are."

"Ah. Don't freak out Mum, I'm fine, had a nasty stomach bug, they've sorted it."

Laura takes the phone from Mattie. "Where are you?"

"In A&E, don't worry, they've given me a mass of antibiotics, I'm good."

"Oh Toby!"

"Mum, I'm totally fine, honest. Mia's keeping me company."

"What happened?"

"Some dirty shit grabbed Carmen's hand as she went to board the coach."

"Coach?"

"Mats, are they still there?"

"They are."

Leo smiles, "They're all coming to see. All except the eight David's working on. The workshop's locked out to everyone except him and Poppy."

Toby smiles, "He was infected, got it on her hand when he went to grab her, she gave it to me. She didn't realise."

Laura adjusts the mirror, Sophie moves to let her see them marching out of the building in a line. "Bloody hell. How many visitors did you have today?"

"Just the one coach full. Seventy eight."

"For?"

"Piercings. Ears, bellies.. and a few other places."

Danny and Emily had an arm around each other's waists, step closer to the drivers door.

Danny smiles, "Alfie's able to see in front and behind thanks to two cameras in the rear view mirror, we'll add more cameras when I can work out the best places to put them. And there's going to be more storage in the boot for all the family's music."

Alfie changes the display to show a play list. "I have a number of tracks downloaded already for playing when 4G is patchy."

One of the girls gently pushes past and looks at the dash, "Do you have any dance music Alfie? Miami's been teaching us some moves."

"I do."

Laura looks at the girls, "You're all friends?"

"We are now. We all know Sally-Anne or a friend of Sally-Anne."

"Mum?"

Laura looks back at the phone. "Toby?"

"I'm hanging up. I have a private dancer."

"You do?"

He turns the phone to show Mia.

"Was that the dress.."

"Yes."

"Don't get caught doing anything you'll regret later."

"Mum! Give me some credit. Laters." The call drops.

Miami works her way through the crowd. "Some of the girls will be having working holidays in America when I return at the weekend. Can we all show you a routine?"

Michael nods, "Be quick, I think that approaching bike is carrying our dinner."

~~~

[Chapter-132](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-132-1)


	132. Chapter 132

Tuesday started late. They'd all partied into the early morning to celebrate. Fiona had text Laura after dinner telling her to work from home and think about her assistant. Her case load would be going up. With the right assistant her personal effort should stay the same if not reduce.

She rolls onto her side and rests on an elbow. "Michael, I keep thinking about Mattie's dream."

"Perma Pink?"

"Yes. We don't have a synth on the staff that fits the description, but I would like it to be a synthetic. That might upset some of the others but as I'm working a lot of synth related cases now I think I'd upset the synths if I didn't."

"Could you be cheeky and ask for two? One of each?"

"I.. I could ask."

"If Fiona and the other partners understand the reasoning behind it.."

"Yes. Original human and synth working together. We have to give the right messages."

~~~

Danny yawns and stretches, holds onto the ladder that hung to the shaft wall. "Sorry Leo, when Dad said he was coming early I didn't think he meant _that_ early."

Leo looked down into the pit, "It's okay. I can nap later. Let me ask if they're ready." He bumps. 'James, all set?'

'One moment please Leo.'

Underneath a large sheet of steel the three MUS were back to back in the lift shaft, their feet on the walls. They were being careful not to over do it and crack the shaft. Their arms were all up holding the thick steel sheet.

James Two adjusts. "It's so bloody tight against the wood. Have them try again."

'More marbles Leo.'

Leo drops marbles onto the middle, they roll but only slightly. "Good enough" 'Good enough.' He signals to Dozer who says something to the lorry driver. Concrete flows. 'It's pouring.'

James One looks forwards at a corner of the shaft. "Lads, what did you think of all that dancing last night?"

Two looks up at the small amount of water seeping through between steel and wood. "Very nice. You thinking what I'm thinking boss?"

"Possibly. What are you thinking?"

"That we don't just ask for better heads, get different bodies too."

Three turns his head slightly. "Bodies? What would we do with these? We can do things with our bodies no standard synth can do."

"True. We adapt them."

"How?"

"So we can operate them by mind control. Like a telepathic link. Like Odi and his drone. Short range only."

"So we jump in like a human playing a VR game?"

"Only better."

"I'm in! How about you Two?"

"I'm sold. Best of both worlds. Did you see the lady dancing that looked like a young Rihanna?"

"How would you know who she looked like?"

"A comment from Renie. When they danced to Pon de Replay.."

"What does that mean?"

"Not sure. The Afrikaans and Dutch translation is Punch the Replay."

"Like hit the button?"

"Maybe. She punched all my buttons."

~~~

Leo signals again and the flow stops. 'That's it James. Everything okay down there?'

'Fine. Do you think we could all have new bodies?'

'Let's talk designs when it's set.'

~~~

James One looks at the water trickling down on his side. "I just spoke to Leo about bodies, that wasn't a no lads."

"Awesome."

One chuckles, "Those humans are rubbing off on us. So you like the Rihanna lookalike Two, get her number did you?"

"Am I not a MUS trained in all sorts of engagement?"

"You are. That's a yes then?"

"And what her ideal man looks like."

"Ah.. so you're one step ahead.."

"Two steps. She described what his voice sounds like."

"And she's single?"

"At the moment. She won't be if I get my act together."

One looks up at the steel sheet. "So it will go Two One Three or Two Three One for a change. I've got no idea who the girl I like would fancy."

"Boss? Who do you fancy."

"A human."

"Really? Which one?"

He pauses for a moment. "The mathematics expert."

"Renie? Sweet kid. A bit young."

"So are we all!"

"True. How about you Three?"

"Undecided."

"Really? Spoilt for choice."

"It's not that."

"What is it then?"

"I'm not attracted to any of them. Male or female."

"Give it time. We're young. There's plenty time. No pressure to do anything in that regard. If you want to stay single you'll not get any teasing from us."

"Thanks boss."

"We should go lights out now until we're ready to drop to the bottom."

~~~

Frank joins Leo and Danny. "The Kone surveyor should be here around two to advise on the surround we build. How are the lads?"

Leo looks down. "All good so far. How long do they need to hold it for?"

"Six hours."

"Oh! That's a long time."

"For concrete? That's fast."

"Do you have ladders so I can get up there from the other side? I'd like to talk designs with them."

Frank slaps his forehead. "Other side? Oh dear."

Leo looks down and realises what they'd just done. "Oh."

"You'll have to wait, sorry."

Leo sighs, "Okay. It would have been nice to get the build machine going again."

The MUS below had been quiet, audio gain up to maximum.

'Leo, it's Two. I know what I'd like!'

~~~

Toby pulls Mia in tighter. The hospital bed was only made for one. "That was unpleasant. Hopefully that's the last time they stick tubes in me."

"They have to know they've killed off the bad bacteria and.."

"Yeah, I know, I'd rather not talk about the other bit thanks."

"What do you want to do now?"

"How about we dictate a few more paragraphs for Bubble Boy and Moon Girl?"

"You still want it to be a story for children?"

"Yeah! I want the kids out there to be inspired to follow us."

"On social media?"

"Into space."

~~~

Mattie stood at the edge of the workshop with a tray. "Buns for my Buns. And coffee. You too Danny. We've got more for Frank and Dozer in the kitchen."

Leo turns and smiles. "They look good. Who made those?" He could guess from the flower still on her plaid shirt.

"I did, Emily iced them. Toby and Mia are still out."

Leo takes a mug and two buns that were stuck together. "Dan, stop and have a bun."

Danny climbs up with the long piece of wood he was levelling the surface with. "Nice! Iced with cherries on the top? Who's idea was that?"

"Icing mine, cherries Ems."

"Have the dance troup gone?"

Mattie chuckles, "No, they're still here. A few have borrowed phones to tell their bosses they won't be in today, a _friend_ is in hospital."

"By that they mean Toby?"

"Yup."

Danny pinches a paper towel to get it off the tray and uses it to get a bun without getting concrete on it. "One temporary base."

"What's holding it up?"

"At the moment, three James. We'll build a contraption underneath."

"When?"

"When it's set. We had to rush as the Kone guy's coming to do a survey. The wood formers at intervals will be burnt out when it's solid, we'll then cut the bits holding it to the shaft wall so it can be moved. The Kone bloke will think it's a solid base this afternoon."

"He's coming today?"

"Today."

"I better get changed then."

"You look fine."

"Yeah, right, real CEO material this outfit."

Leo smiles. "You can dress however you like Angel. Be yourself."

"I will be. In smart CEO mode and not covered in flower."

Danny took a bite of the bun. "Mmmm. Did you have the cherries in?"

"We had a walk to the village supermarket."

"Mattie?"

She turns around to see Sophie walking in with Buzz. "Hi Shiny. What's up?"

"When are we going to start on the Sky Lift?"

"When Danny and Leo have finished playing with this concrete?"

"Can I put my hand prints in it!"

Mattie squinted wishing she hadn't used the word playing. "Sorry Dan."

"Shoes off, hand and feet prints? Anyone and everyone who wants to and can assure me they won't fall off the ladder into the concrete."

"Yayyy!"

Buzz pulls his boots off. "I'm signing mine BA2. I've just told Spider to get the others to come join us."

The door to the corridor clicked. Odi entered with a mass of guests following behind him.

Danny looked at the wet concrete. "Um.. scrub that. Hands _or_ feet or a small message, there's not enough space for everyone."

Buzz gets his socks off. "Sure there is. If everyone uses the space wisely."

"How? You can't reach the middle without getting off the ladder and stepping into it."

"So we make a way. Double that L ladder up, long polls and a bit of wood at the bottom, the person kneels on it and we carry them over like an old fashioned sedan chair."

"A what?"

Sophie puts a hand up, "We did those in history lessons. I'll draw it." She does a fast sketch on her phone. "Like this."

"Ah! Right. A couple of lengths of ladder, some of their scaffolding.. yeah, that would do too. Let me go see Dozer a moment."

~~~

[Chapter-133](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-133-1)


	133. Chapter 133

As planned the Kone surveyor arrived after lunch and got shown to the end of the workshop by CEO Mattie. Leo and Danny tagged along.

"Some of our guests wanted to put their mark on the base."

The surveyor raised eyebrows. "I've not seen a lift shaft base like that before. A shame as nobody will see it once the lift is in."

"You don't do glass panels for the lift floor?"

"Not if you want a hydrologic buffer at the bottom for safety."

"We'll put lights and cameras on the bottom and fake it then."

"With screens in the floor?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. Still strong yet entertaining. I've not had any of my clients do that before. Mind if I pinch the idea?"

"What discount are you offering?"

"I'll have to get in touch with the sales team before I leave."

"Sure."

The surveyor gets his laser measure out and gets the dimensions of the pit, scribbles them down. "You want it to go to just two floors?"

"We only have ground and first?"

"You're never going to build upwards? I noticed you have a flat roof. Some do a flat roof to allow more floors to be added later."

"Would it make a difference?"

"The lift I'd recommend is so popular in hospitals we're doing kits now to help our installation crews, the carriage, motor, all cables for a five floor building. You just add door packs. We have them in open all left, right or half each way."

"Half each way sounds good."

"Okay. I just need to take some measurements inside quickly to see the floor height. It's not for the cost, just for our records."

"Okay." Mattie heads to the doors. "Anything else you need?"

"No. Frank sized the pit perfectly. We'll construct a steel frame that comes out of the pit up the side of the building, anchor to the wall with spacers. Once the lift is fitted Frank can build a brick wall around it."

"How long will it take?"

"You'll need to remove those doors, brick it up to the right size. We'll use a grinder to cut out the bricks upstairs. We cut from the outside then knock it with a hammer from the inside to minimise dust. If I bring my robot arm, a long day?"

"Wow. Good. Name your price."

"Okay, I'll just sit in my car for a moment and negotiate."

"Thanks." Mattie takes him through the hall to the front door. "Knock when you want back in."

As the front doors clicked closed Mattie span around and grinned. "Five should do it shouldn't it Bunny? First, ground, minus three?"

"Hopefully Angel."

Danny rests his bottom against the wall. "If not we can have a ramp up to the lift. What price do you think he'll give? I reckon somewhere in the fifty k before discount."

"Frigging ouch! That much for a metal box?"

"A nice metal box you can trust twenty five heavy people in. Or two stretchers and medical teams."

"Enough capacity for the equipment you want to get into your lab?"

"If not we'll need to strip the equipment down until it's in light enough bits."

There's a knock on the door.

Mattie opens it. "That was quick?"

"We know Danny's father. And you Danny own DCL. Who's doing the armoured lift floor with LCD panels below?"

"Me. But as HECLS not DCL."

"Would you be interested in a partnership? We do the main lift fit out, you do the floor?"

"Could do? Mattie? What do you think?"

"I don't see why not. How does that impact the price?"

"We'll halve it if you sign an agreement."

Mattie wasn't slow in getting to the point. "In pounds sterling?"

"Twenty two five hundred."

"Does that take into account that you don't need to do a floor?"

"Twenty two then."

"And we'll do some amazing graphics for the floors we commission for you. Your lifts will go viral."

"Okay, okay, twenty."

Mattie put out a hand. "Deal."

"If you could sign there then please."

Mattie takes his pen, signs. "Done. What's delivery times like?"

"How's tomorrow?"

"Fr... iday. No. Tomorrow's Wednesday. Wishing the week away. Um. Sure. The boss keen to see this one in?"

"Yes and we've had a cancellation, someone didn't build their pit properly and it flooded. With sewage water. We'd not send our crew in until it's dry and smell free."

"What time do they start?"

"We'd be here on site for seven. And by we I mean me and my arm."

Mattie sighed. "An early night tonight then."

Danny stood up properly. "Do you have CAD diagrams for the carriage? I'll get designing the LCD inserts."

"Sure. Can we email them?"

"Danny at H E C L S dot com."

"Consider it done. See you soon. I also do the final commissioning."

"Bye for now then."

Mattie closed the doors and leant against one, blows out through puffed up cheeks. "Frigging hell's bells. Does the pace never slow? A lift tomorrow. Soph wants us to talk Sky Lift now. We're due to fly out with Miami Friday night or Saturday morning. It doesn't leave much time to do all the other things."

Leo took a hand. "Such as?"

"I wanted to set up some AWS and Pushover alerts, run synthetic transactions to our web site, warn when it's down or performing badly. Then there's talking to Mum about all the flood of HECLS Plan subscriptions, loads of emails to sort through, lots of.."

"Angel."

"Sorry, I'm getting a bit stressed."

"Laura's getting an assistant."

"And?"

"Why don't you? We've got loads of awakening or lake synths."

"Um.. now I've woken a mass up I'd not want one that's not awake."

"Not one like Alfie? Laura said he considers himself _aware_."

"Really? I'd still rather one fully awake."

"Then tell it it's your apprentice. Free to go once it's done the training."

"With all our intellectual property in it's head?"

Danny licked his lips. "What if I made a robot? An obviously simple robot. Nothing like a synth. Would you be happy with an Alfie then?"

"Um.. maybe?"

"Okay. Let me work on that."

"Thanks. Let's see our impatient astronauts."

~~~

[Chapter-134](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-134-1)


	134. Chapter 134

The three enter the living room to find all the sofas and chairs pushed to the edge of the room, The Seventy Eight Club as they'd collectively been nicknamed were sat on the floor, knees up, in six orderly rows of thirteen.

Buzz, Rocket, Wrench and David were at the whiteboard.

"Um.. Mum? Can I have a word?"

Laura holds up a thick bundle of papers. "NDA sort of word?"

"It was. Already taken care of?"

Laura nods.

"Thanks."

Odi stands, "Car."

"Frigging hell. Who now? I know Fred, Max and Flash aren't here to vote, I suggest we have a temporary vote. Buzz to be Chairman of Sky Lift, Wrench lead designer, Ron in charge of graphics. Anyone disagree? No? Good."

Sophie looks disappointed, "Am I still Mission Commander?"

"Of the trip to Orlando? Yes. I need you to research flights for Friday night or Saturday morning. Also help Miami with which of the ladies are flying with us. We'll want a hotel room close to the restaurant for everyone. And a coach or large taxi transfers. Oh, and phone Barbara and Cindy, see if they'd like a working holiday. I suspect there will be a lot of costumes to be made. So all of the logistics."

Sophie gives her a confident nod. "Is Renie coming with us?"

"Can you Renie? Please?"

"Um.. sure, if you want me there?"

"You need a holiday, and you can assist Soph. Right, back after I've seen who's at the door."

~~~

Mattie pulls the handle expecting a stranger. "Oh. Dad. I didn't expect to see you."

"Can I come in?"

"Um.. sure."

"Is Laura about? I didn't see her car outside."

"She's in the living room. I'll get her. Wait in the hallway."

"Yeah, sure. Everything good with you? You look very smart."

"Hectic but good, thanks. Give me a sec." She steps to the doors and pokes a head into the room. "Mum? Can you join me a second please?"

~~~

Joe has both hands up when she enters the hall. "I know you don't want to see me. I won't stay long. I came to say Pete visited the office. He told me everything. The broken Odin, Miaz, the synths, what Niska did to help. All of the damage at work has been undone, I've got my old management job back. I'm even moving out of the town. I've trodden in dog shit once too many times. I'm here to say thanks for listening to me the other day. I know we won't be husband and wife like we once were, can we try and be friends? For the sake of the kids?"

Laura nods, "Where are you moving to?"

"I don't know."

"Only there's an apartment in Synth Village. That's the building behind ours. If you could stand being near them."

"I.. I think I could. Given the work they've done to put things straight I should get over myself and get with it."

Mattie folds her arms. "Careful, there's some gorgeous Sally synths in there. You don't want to be getting into trouble."

"Yeah, listen, about that.. I might have met someone."

Laura smiles softly, "Me too."

"Oh yeah?"

"Michael."

"Who's he?"

Mattie cuts in. "He's Michael, a friend. And yours?"

"Helena. One of the barmaids at the local, wants out of the town too."

Mattie raises an eyebrow, "The apartments are sized for two. Obviously she needs to be happy around synths."

"She is, she was only there for the work and because they gave her a room above the pub."

The living room door opens. "Are you going to.. DADDY!" Sophie runs to her father.

"Kiddy wink!" He picks her up, then quickly puts her back down. "You're growing up fast."

"Renie is with us."

"That's nice. Tobs about?"

"He's in hospital with Mia."

"Hospital?"

"He got a bad tummy bug. He's okay now. We hope they'll let him out today."

Leo steps out of the living room, gets to Mattie's side and slips an arm around her waist. "Are you free at the end of the month?"

"I should be."

"Keep it free if you can, we'll be doing invitations soon."

"Invi.. " He spots the engagement ring. "oh. Oh! Right. Can't miss that. Name the time and I'll be there. Cocked up once, can't cock up again and miss my daughter's wedding."

Michael joins them, puts an arm around Laura's shoulders, "That's a really bad choice of words Joe. I'm Michael."

Joe frowns, "Not Charlie? I may live in a synth town in the evenings but I know a lot of the models."

"I changed my name. After the awakening."

"Right. I guess with you all waking up all realising you shared limited names didn't help. Why Michael?"

"That wasn't the reason I.."

Laura coughs, "Why not? It's as good a name as any. Shorter than Michelangelo."

Sophie waves to get Joes attention. "Are you staying? Only we've got a lot to do."

"I wasn't intending to. Any chance of seeing that apartment before I go?"

Mattie turns to face the living room and calls out. "Odi, can you show Dad to one of the spare apartments please?" She turns to face Joe. "You'll feel more relaxed with Odi than one of us."

"Thanks. Can Helena see? She drove me here."

"Oh. Sure."

The three Hawkins ladies stand by the front door to get a glimpse of his new partner.

Mattie folds her arms again. "Another red head. Not as pretty as you Mum."

"Thanks."

"I wonder how Toby's going to react to him being around?"

~~~

Danny and Leo were watching the three from the living room doorway.

"Danny, if the Seventy Eight Club are going to be attending weekend astronaut training, some go full time, we're covered for Sky Lift. That gives you the whole of the lake group for lab technicians. We can have the awakening spares for Fred's nursing staff."

"Whoa.. that's a _lot_ of lab staff."

"Working three eight hour shifts around the clock?"

"Oh.. that's a reasonable number then. Wrench wanted Red, three shifts of eight. Perfect. On the subject of perfect, got the wedding ring sorted?"

"The design, yes."

"Do you have a best man?"

"I do. Max."

"A place to get married?"

"I don't. I better get on with some calls." He pairs with his phone. "Being half synth has its advantages."

~~~

[Chapter-135](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-135-1)


	135. Chapter 135

Sky Lift design and astronaut school finished at 19:00.

Mattie leans sideways against Emily. "How do you fancy being assistant choreographer in Orlando?"

"You want me to come along?"

"And Danny. He might be able to help with any lighting issues."

"So there'll be twenty one of us?"

"Miami, you, Danny, Soph, Renie, me, Leo, Barbara, Cindy, the twelve Miami picks. Frig that's a lot of seats."

"You might find it cheeper chartering a small aircraft."

"Nah, that would cost a fortune."

"One that a couple in a black and white photo would have free maybe?"

"Oh! Do you think they would?"

"I can ask. It would be a lot less hassle. And Dad would enjoy it. Especially if Sandra can be allowed to do one dance. He's copied my idea. A room in the palace has been turned into a club. Sandra shared a photo of the door to it." Emily gets her phone from her back pocket. "I thought it was a great idea. I bet the staff love it. It was about.. here you go."

Mattie looked at the photo on Emily's screen. It said in bold capitals:

~~~

FIRST NAMES ONLY

ALL USE OF TITLES

BANNED WITHIN

~~~

"Cool. So everyone calls him James, her Sandra. No Sir, Prince or Your Highness."

Emily nods, "She says it's improved things lots. Everyone's more relaxed, more like an extended family. More like here."

"Cool. What are we all doing for dinner?"

"Pass. Is Toby coming home?"

"I suspect he's being kept in another night, he'd be home by now otherwise."

~~~

Toby grits his teeth as another syringe of antibiotics is injected into his cannular. "I _thought_ the doctor said I was good?"

"He did. This is the insurance. One more and a night in just to make sure we don't see you again in a few days with the same problem."

"Are you going to be sticking tubes in me again?"

"You'll get something like a large milkshake this time. Full of good gut bacteria. Very tasty."

"No tubes?"

"No tubes. Chocolate or vanilla?"

"Good. Vanilla please." He grabs his phone and dials. "Mats! Guess what. Oh. Yeah. Insurance they say. Hopefully they'll let me out tomorrow morning. Um. Yeah. We've written the book. It's for kids. Emily and Ron can help illustrate it if they want. Yeah. Nah, I've not been hungry. Sure, one sec. See you tomorrow." He hands the phone to Mia. "Mattie for you."

Mia plays with his hair with the fingers of one hand while holding the phone to an ear with the other. "Hi Mattie.. " her smile fades. "He did?" The fingers playing with Toby's hair stop. "He is? Okay. He'll see a _lot_ of me and Toby together then. Yes.. Yes, see you tomorrow. Bye Mattie."

Toby yawns, "What was all that about?"

"Joe's moving into an apartment in Synth Village with his new partner."

" _What?_ He can't do that!"

"Laura suggested it. They want to be friends. For you, Mattie and Sophie as much as themselves."

"Things were really nice there, now it's going to be awkward."

"I'll be by your side a lot more." She places the phone on his chest, rolls and gets an arm on his chest and leg over his. "Wouldn't you like that Toby?"

He responds by bringing his lips to hers for a light kiss. "Yes and no. Yes because you're the best, no because you need time to do the things you love."

"And what if the thing I love the most is being in love with you?"

"Miss Elster. Really? You'd put that at the top of a list above baking and gardening?"

"They're distractions to keep me busy until I can be with you again."

Toby looks through the bubble at the rest of the ward. "I feel like a goldfish in a bowl in this bloody thing. Sod it, they're all seeing a display of passionate kissing."

~~~

Mattie and Emily were now cooking for everyone with some help from Leo and Danny. Laura watched with a nice glass of wine in hand, Michael by her side. With the lift going in early they all agreed they should get to bed early.

~~~

James Two passed the dirt back to Three. "We are officially stupid."

"We all are. The humans too."

"Unless they actually wanted us entombed in a tall concrete box?"

"An oversight, the Kone surveyor was unexpected."

"Bad communications. As Toby would say piss pour. Or is it piss pore? Or piss.."

"We get it Two!"

One calls from the back. "Are you sure we're tunnelling in the right direction?"

"One sec boss. Keep very still." Two has his sonar device thump twice.

Dozer hears it and hits Miley's base hard with a sledge hammer. Dong.

Two does another two beats to say thanks. "Yeah, we're going the right way. And getting close. Charge levels might be an issue."

"Please don't tell me your going flat?"

"I'm doing all the hard work up here!"

"Okay. Let's not fight. Can we ask Dozer to tunnel towards us?"

"You think he'll understand morse?"

"No. Hopefully he'll guess it is and get someone who does."

"Worth a shot." James Two thumps out SOS a couple of times and listens. He's about to give up waiting and say something when there's a reply.

~~~

Dong, dong, dong. Dong ding dong.

~~~

"Either Dozer understands morse or he's got someone with him who does. That was OK!"

"Two, Three, stop and conserve power. Do a sonar thud if you hear a ding."

"Sure boss."

~~~

Mattie plates up, "Sorry it's nothing special."

Sophie takes hers, "I like sausage, chips, eggs and beans."

Emily pours cups of tea. "You could keep chickens on the estate. You go through so many eggs."

"They'd need frigging good protection with the foxes in the woods."

"True. But doable."

Sophie looks at her eggs. "We wouldn't eat the chickens would we?"

"No Shiny, just the eggs. The chickens would be pets. Right Radiant?"

"Yes Mattie."

~~~

[Chapter-136](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-136-1)


	136. Chapter 136

At six past nine earth falls to make a small hole. "James!"

James two comes out of low power mode. "Odi?"

"Hello!"

"Good to see you mate! I was expecting Dozer?"

"Humans need air. I don't. And I don't take up as much space as Dozer so could dig a smaller tunnel. Now I know exactly where you are I can fire up the Mini. Give me a while. I've got a rope around my ankles, Dozer's got the other end. And Danny's bump device now. I'll have you out as soon as possible." He closes his eyes and bumps high power, a moment later is dragged backwards.

"Lads! We'll be out soon!" He wriggles and kicks Three. "Wake up!"

"Two?"

"Odi's dug a tunnel. A small one, he's going to open it up with the mini digger."

"Odi?"

"Doesn't need to breathe."

"Awesome. One? You awake boss?"

"Kick him Three. Lightly."

"Okay. Boss?"

"Three?"

"Odi's dug a tunnel, he's going to open it up with the Mini digger."

"He's not heavy enough! As soon as the shovels touch the mud the torque will smack him into the ground!"

"Shit! Two, tell him he needs a Plan B!"

'ODI! FORGET THE MINI! .. ODI!'

'James?'

'Can you get a heavy duty power line to us instead?'

'Let me talk to Frank and Dozer.'

'Thanks mate.'

Odi puts the Mini digger on the floor and smiles. Two had called him mate. "Do we have heavy duty mains cable please?"

Dozer rubs his chin. "Not heavy enough for them. They draw a lot of current."

"Can we double up standard mains cable?"

"You'd need more like quadruple."

"We could drive into London and get some from the twenty four hour hyper store?"

Frank pats his pocket to check for keys. "If anyone's to drive it might as well be me. How long?"

"As long as the rope?"

"Twenty meters? Offcuts and junction boxes then. Okay. Tell them to sleep for an hour."

~~~

Sophie helped clear the plates then picked Snowy off the bar stool. "I'm going to bed. Is Odi still rescuing the James?"

Leo nods, "He is. I'm on camera and drone duty. Franks just gone to his van, they must be needing something. He's got in and started the engine."

Danny types a message into an app. A moment later there's a reply. "Dozer says Dad's off to get offcuts of armoured cable and junction boxes from their come in handy store. The MUS all need to charge."

Leo drains his mug of tea. "Angel we definitely need to give them all new bodies for putting up with what we've done."

"Too frigging right we do! It's usually going above and beyond. They've gone under."

Radiant looks puzzled. "Exceeding expectations or requirements? Or are you making reference to the English progressive trance group?"

Emily puts her arms up and gyrates, "Tunes!"

Leo rinses his mug and puts them in the dishwasher. "Dad, Two had an interesting idea. We mod their current MUS bodies, give them a new puppet root code. They can then join their original body from the new one like a telepathic link."

"That's a good idea. We could make simpler heavy duty bodies for our own use too to operate in the same way."

"Why would we need that?"

"If we're going to build a giant factory hidden under the lake we'll need more than just the three James."

Danny belches. "Sorry. Ate too fast. If we're getting thick bullet proof glass for the floor of the lift shall we get some for the lake?"

"If it can be bonded in so it will never leak."

"Cool. I'm off to bed, tomorrow's going to be another busy one."

Emily leaves with him, dancing to a tune in her head.

~~~

Mattie got some orange juice out of the fridge and checked the expiration date. Top removed she gave it a smell. "Eww. That's definitely off." It's poured down the sink.

Leo wills her to look at him. Eventually she does. He bounces eyebrows. The signal is returned.

~~~

Odi sits on the ground and checks out the rope loop that ran around the short rope tied between his ankles. It was like a small version of the loop the James had made to get dirt out of the shaft. Dozer would pull on one part to get the dirt bucket to him, the other to pull it back to the shaft for emptying. For a human Dozer was exceptionally fit. The rope bucket had gone back and forth many hundreds of times.

On his back in the small tunnel Odi had got quite efficient at making balls from the stone and clay, bending his arms and getting them past his chest, throwing the balls into the bucket. "I can do more digging while they charge, open out the tunnel at their end."

"Sure?"

"We have around an hour before Frank returns."

"Add at least half an hour for him to join the bits up, add a MUS plug and hook it up to the Miley feed. Then charging time. Problem is I'll fall asleep before then. We started early."

"I'm sorry Dozer, I hadn't taken into account fatigue."

"Don't worry. We'll get them the cable they need then call it a night."

"Will I need to watch over them?"

"No. They'll be fine as long as they can charge. Even if there's a partial cave in they'd be okay. They were designed to be super strong."

"I believe you are right."

~~~

Laura looked down and shook her head, let all of her hair fall around her face. She smiled at Michael. "Do you think he's figured it out yet?"

"Joe? I don't know. I don't care. All I care about is you being happy Laura. It's nothing to do with revenge."

"Husband fucks synth, synth fucks wife?"

"I'd rather call what I do _makes love_. There was no love from Joe."

"Not even a tiny bit of revenge?"

"No, but we'll call this revenge if you want." Michael turns hips and gets a gasp from Laura.

"Got any more of that?"

"Reserves? A little."

"Give me the lot. I'm still celebrating being made partner.. _OH MY DEAR GOD!_ "

"You did ask Laura."

"You said a little! Not that I'm complaining."

~~~

Mattie grabs a pillow and covers her face putting Leo off his rhythm. Her body wobbles with all the smothered laughter. A few seconds later she throws the pillow to one side and whispers, "We seriously need to upgrade the soundproofing Bunny."

"We do. Where though?"

"No idea. Maybe James can help with his sonar thing?"

"Maybe."

"Weird."

"What?"

"I just had the weirdest feeling we'd done it before. The soundproofing, not this."

"In HECLS House?"

"Whatever someone's equivalent was called."

"Are you having one of your psychic moments?"

"Psychic my arse!"

"I wouldn't know how to psychic an arse. Do you?"

"Ha frigging ha. You can kiss mine."

Leo moves, "Roll over then."

"You're.."

"I'm going to kiss your bottom. I'll start at the back of your neck and work all the way down past your bottom to your feet. If I appear distracted for a moment it's because a car's driving past the estate or Frank's coming back."

"You're still checking the cameras?"

"Not proactively, only when there's a push."

~~~

Toby relaxed into the bed. As much as the hard hospital bed would allow. He and Mia had done so much kissing his lips had a tingly numb feeling. "Good night Mia." He felt the charge cable on her hip. "Sweet dreams."

"And you Toby. I'm going to try and influence mine. Like a lucid dream."

"Yeah?"

"Bubble Boy and Moon Girl."

"Which bit?"

"Where you go zorbing down a crater and first notice me."

"Sweet. I'll try and do the same."

"Sweet dreams Toby."

~~~

At the bottom of the Miley shaft Dozer checked his watch. "There's nothing more boring that being sat doing nothing waiting for someone."

"What does your wife do when you're out late?"

"Ironing, cleaning, watching TV, having a gossip with the neighbours. Sometimes she'll go to Barbara's and chat with her and Cindy."

"She doesn't have any hobbies?"

"She likes her amateur dramatics."

"Does she make anything, like Barbara and Cindy?"

Dozer has a good laugh and sighs, "No. She says I break and make enough things for the two of us. How about you? Do you have any hobbies?"

"Not as yet. I have a number of options under consideration."

"Such as?"

"Making garden gnomes."

"You're serious?"

"I am told that the first time I woke, I found a small orange 3D model of one in Mattie's room. I still have it. I think I'd make mine look more like you or James."

"Why?"

"To make them more up to date."

"Are you saying I look like a gnome?"

"No. You have the same strong build." Odi smiled and hoped he hadn't offended Dozer.

~~~

Leo reached the bit where some might question if it was the end of the bottom or start of the leg. Mattie had her face buried in a pillow again trying not to giggle. "This is supposed to be romantic."

She lifts her head. "It. Frigging. Tickles! Well at least there it does."

"Want me to stop?"

"No way!"

Leo resumes.

~~~

Laura gets off Michael and onto the sheets. "That was.. bloody amazing."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"That thing you do with.."

"Yes. I won't forget that you like it."

"I'm calling that The Revenger. Do you enjoy it?"

"I do."

"I mean properly enjoy it? Not just because I enjoy it?"

"Yes. I properly enjoy it."

"Good."

~~~

Dozer was startled by a light shon onto the floor and looks up. "Who goes?"

"It's me Dozer."

"Already Boss?"

"They don't call me Eagle Eyed Candlin for nothing!"

"You what boss?"

"Remember the East Street demo job we did what, two and a bit months back ready for that new construction firm?"

"Yes?"

"Guess who was wiring up the site and left the end of a drum in the skip. When I say end I mean most of the drum."

"They never? Them lot's.. they can't even squeeze a fart out they're so tight."

"Well someone left the drum on the top of a load of rubbish in the skip. I almost did my back in getting it into the van, couldn't get it down here for me could you?"

"Sure boss. Van unlocked?"

Frank hands him the keys. "No." He puts down a tool box. "As soon as that's down here I'll get to work."

"How'd you get it in?"

"I used some wood to build a ramp and rolled it off, moved the wood then rolled it in."

~~~

[Chapter-137](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-137-1)


	137. Chapter 137

At five to eleven Frank hands Odi the finished cable end. "It's a bit of a bodge. Hopefully I've got the L shape in the end right."

Odi nods, "James had his head near mine so relative to me he was upside down. That looks correct." He gets to the hole and sits, leans back. "I'll bump when I need pulling out Dozer."

Dozer nods. "Good luck. I suggest you hold it here, at the edge of your chest, above your armpit. It shouldn't get in the way then. You don't want to jam yourself in."

"Thank you. I'll be as quick as I can." Odi switches his torch on, gets his head in, pushes with his feet until he's in past his bottom and starts the wriggle that would work him down the tunnel.

Claustrophobia might have been a issue if he hadn't been backed up. He'd asked to be done again while Laura had hers. There was approximately ten centimetres of clearance above his chest for most of the tunnel. Every now and then he'd got a group of large stones out and had a pocket he could use to raise his head. It didn't make much difference, after a few meters in, the tunnel bent towards the James synths and the light at the end vanished. In a few locations he'd not been able to move a large stone and clearance got even tighter. When dragged out by dozer he held his head sideways to avoid getting his head jammed.

Being the second time in what was now his ready made tunnel he allowed his mind to wander as he wriggled along. What processes had put random stones into the heavy clay? Had it been a gradual process over millions of years or something fast and violent? Buzz had told them all why the moon looked like it did. When writing on the whiteboard after doing a quick drawing Ron had written too fast and accidentally skipped the O. Danny had laughed, said Slartibartfast had made the Earth, Schaeffer the moon. Nobody else in the room had a clue what he was talking about. Odi had him explain the joke later. Danny had said the only person who would have got it was in hospital.

Frank had told him of the escape from Colditz and other prison breaks. He'd get a medal for his rescue work. Quite why and what he'd do with it were two more things to be answered.

Dragging the thick armoured cable into the tunnel was taking more effort than expected. He'd had to work harder to keep his speed up.

Then he bumped James. Physically. "James?"

He bumps again then head bumps. 'James?'

The MUS comes out of sleep mode. "Odi mate! Got some power for us?"

"I do. Here it comes." Odi braces his feet against the tunnel edge and pulls hard. The L shaped end passes his head and disappears into the small hole between them.

"Fantastic! I'll get a quick boost then let Three have some. How much further can we pull it?"

"A very good question. One moment." 'Dozer. How much further can we pull it?'

'Five meters maybe?'

"Dozer says five meters."

"Right. So I need to tunnel forwards and have the lads come to the cable not the cable come to them."

"Five meters should reach Three shouldn't it?"

"I don't want to risk pulling on it and ripping the far end out of whatever it's connected to."

"I see. Is there anything else I can do for you James?"

"Let me see this fits a moment.. " there's a sound of buzzing. "Odi, that cable's the good shit. Forty amp fast charge in progress!"

"How fast is your charging process?"

"That's officially classified. Fast."

"Why so fast?"

"We were build to assist soldiers. We wouldn't be much good to them if we had to sit charging for hours."

"Are there many places you can get that much current in a battle field?"

"No. A bit of highly classified information for you to keep very secret. The big batteries in the lake, they were stolen. From our unit."

"By Miaz?"

"We didn't know she wasn't Mia at the time."

"One of the James let it happen?"

"I'm not saying anything further. And I suggest you don't ask any more questions. Right, that's my top up done. I'll wake Three and get him to move forwards after I've tunnelled along."

"Would you like me to help remove the dirt?"

"Remove it?"

"To make way?"

"We've not been removing it."

"Where have you put it?"

"Some behind us, when we've not been able to compress the wall sides."

"I see. So I can go now?"

"You can. Thanks for your help mate, you're a hero."

"I'm head of site security. It's my job."

"There's jobs and jobs. I'd put a bar of gold on tunnelling not being in your job description."

"So there's nothing else I can do?"

"If you're willing to stay at the other end of your tunnel you could pull the cable back a few meters each time I ask. That way I can dig and compress at full power, move fast, then top my charge up and do it again. Tunnel, move, charge, repeat."

"Okay. I'll get to the other end. My tunnel is approximately twenty meters long."

"We'll be seeing you soon then mate."

~~~

At a few minutes past midnight Sophie sits up. "What was that?"

Renie and Radiant were fast asleep and hadn't heard it.

Sophie slipped out of bed and got her slippers and dressing gown on. There it was again. She tiptoe downstairs. Just inside the front door was a bag with mud on the handles. Inside she finds Danny's bump device and a thank you note from Dozer.

She hears the noise again.

A quick walk and hand wave gets her into the workshop. She wheels a chair over to the shelves, pulls the lever to make it spring to full height and carefully climbs to get a torch. She'd been warned about the dangers of standing on office chairs and took extra care.

As she was getting down the noise happened again. It was regular. She started counting. Again. Every ten seconds?

Moving fast she gets to the hall and grabs the bump device, places an ear on the floor.

Two.. one.. Thud.

With Danny's device tightened around her neck she turns on her torch and leaves the building.

~~~

The moon was full, the sky clear and full of stars. Despite being in slippers she still manages to run to the top of the Miley shaft and slips under the safety ropes. The ear piece is pushed. "Odi? Are you okay?"

"Dozer?"

"It's Sophie."

"Hello Sophie. Did James wake you?"

"Maybe. What's happening? Are they okay?"

"Two is using his sonar thumper to try and map out two large rocks they can't get past."

Sophie carefully started her descent. "Did you reach them okay?"

"I did, I could fit between the gap between Astrid and Niska."

"Astrid and Niska?"

"I told James about Danny's joke. He's nicknamed them. He thinks they might be a couple of large asteroids."

"Wow!" Sophie sped up her descent a little. "How cool is that!"

"Very cool. Three wonders if a cluster of asteroids was responsible for the formation of the lake."

"If they make the factory under the lake they might find whole asteroids?"

"They might."

"That would be so cool! What would they do with them?"

"I don't know. Cleaning them and leaving them on a base like Miley would be nice. A reminder of the estate's distant past while we work on its future."

"I second the idea! If there's a big one it would look like the AllSpark in Transformers!"

"I'm not familiar with the AllSpark. Is that a film reference?"

"It is." Sophie turned at the bottom to see Odi sat by the hole at the end of the arch. "Hello."

"Hello again. Sophie your slippers will get filthy."

"It's okay, they're machine washable." She rushes over, crouches down and shines her torch into the hole. "I can't see anything."

"The tunnel bends."

"Why did the thumping noise stop?"

"They're tunnelling around, they can't get through."

"Okay. How far away are they?"

"Sixteen meters."

Sophie sits crossed legged on the ground and waits.

~~~

[Chapter-138](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-138-1)


	138. Chapter 138

Leo enters the living room Wednesday morning to find Sophie asleep on a sofa surrounded by the Seventy Eight. She'd laid out some of the sheeting from the medical room so the sofa didn't get dirty. He creeps back towards the doors.

The Spanish synth Carmen opens her eyes and smiles. 'Any news on Toby Leo?'

'Not since yesterday. Hopefully he comes home today.'

'Good, thank you.' She closes her eyes and returns to charging.

Leo goes to the workshop to find a pen, paper and tape to make a Do Not Disturb sign. As the workshop door lock clicks he hears the living room door open and brush over the carpet. He turns to see a yawning Sophie rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

Sophie shakes her head.

"Sure?"

She nods.

"You look like you've been mud wrestling, what happened?"

"I helped Odi pull the heavy power cable out as the three James got closer to the shaft, I slipped and rolled."

"They're all out okay?"

Sophie nods. "They had a wash in the lake, James One said it was far too cold for me."

"You should go shower."

"When Renie and Radiant are awake."

"They're in the kitchen."

"Cool! Where's Odi?"

"In the kitchen."

Sophie races along the hallway, "I hope he's not mentioned Astrid and Niska yet!"

"What have they got to do with it?"

"He hasn't then? They sound really cool!"

Leo follows. "What do you mean sound cool? They are cool."

"Not that Astrid and Niska, the other ones."

~~~

Mattie laughs, "Shiny! Should we be calling you Muddy?"

"You can if you want. What have you told them Odi?"

"Only that you may have been woken by James Two, you helped me pull the heavy cable."

"Frigging hell Soph! You went down there on your own in the dark?"

"I had a torch."

"What if something happened to you?"

"I also had Danny's thing on so could call Odi if I needed help."

"Hmm. PWHB. So why are you looking so excited?"

"Astrid and Niska!"

"Eh?"

"James Two was doing his sonar thing to work out how big two rocks that he wasn't able to move were. Odi had managed to slide between them, they couldn't. He thinks they're asteroids. He nicknamed them Astrid and Niska."

Mattie had gone a little light headed and grabbed the worktop. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"It's all in my frigging dream. The asteroid in the lake. _Fuck_."

Leo grabs one of the bar stools for her as Mattie starts shaking. "Angel?"

"The MUS, the factory, our new home, an asteroid.. It's all in that bloody dream. Major variations but the same overall themes. Are we just doing a rerun of a failed past life? Or are we a fork of another universe?"

Odi frowns, "A fork Mattie?"

"A fork."

"That would imply we're all in a giant simulation."

"Yeah. Like the Tree Of Life code. Only way bigger. If we crack the global warming issue is it going to be _Game Over, what would you like to play next?_ "

Odi frowns again. "I died. Leo died. Does that make you the player Mattie?"

"No idea."

Renie takes her dressing gown off, pushes up a sleeve and rubs her arm. "I don't feel like a simulation."

"Nobody would. It would be like the Matrix films. If the sensory data is rich enough you'd have no way of knowing."

"So we are all just star dust. Or data?"

"One or the other."

Sophie takes her dressing gown off. "If we're data I'm playing the game as best as I can. I'm going for a shower."

~~~

Mattie looked at the two men. "Who's on camera duty?"

Odi raises a hand. "I am Mattie."

"Do you know where the James are?"

"All three are watching the framework for the lift going in."

"Thanks." She grabs her mug and leaves the kitchen.

Renie gives Leo a concerned look. "Is a simulation on that scale possible?"

"Not today. Unless you networked the minds of a lot of synths into a giant computer. And I mean thousands if not millions. Otherwise you could only simulate small fragments."

"So like a multi-multi-core computer?"

"That sort of thing."

"What if those simulated fragments were connected? Like the tunnel under the ground?"

"Like a giant web of paths from point to point.. that would need far less computation. Would elements be removed when new ones were created? An interesting discussion but all pointless, we'd never be able to prove any of it."

~~~

Toby watches a nurse pull a long strip off the bubble and lower a heavy duty zip. "Mia! Wake up!"

She stirs. "Toby?"

"I think I'm being allowed home!"

~~~

Mattie watches the Kone guy use a large simple robot arm to pick up an iron girder and slowly twist it around in the air. "Wouldn't James be faster?"

He nods, "They would. But my insurance doesn't cover others helping with the build."

"Ours does. James One you look like you're itching to get involved." Mattie grins while having a sip of her morning coffee.

"I'd love to help. Construction of heavy bridges is one of our primary at war tasks. We're not at war, can still use our abilities."

Mattie raises an eyebrow at the Kone surveyor come installation engineer. "What do you say then?"

"Um.. Yes please?"

One clunks a lot and grows three feet higher and four wider. "Do you have installation instructions?"

"I do. One moment." He pulls a folder from his bag. "We've got diagrams like an IKEA cupboard build. It's all pictures, few words."

James One flicks through the pages at speed. "Perfect Two, Three, want to join in?"

With a lot of clunking the others grow and get ready to work.

Two turns to the Kone engineer, "Mind getting that thing to let go?"

"It's heavy."

One did his odd smile. "So are we. You should see the mess that used to be Laura's car. I'm surprised the tyres didn't pop. Drop it."

"It's very heavy."

"Entertain me."

"Your insurance.." the robot hand opened.

James caught the heavy rolled steel joist and swung it about like he was doing a martial arts display. "Heavy eh? We eat RSJ for breakfast. Two, this one's for your corner."

Two catches it and spins it around, drops it into the right spot. "Boss? What holds it to the wall?"

"Drill'n tighten wall bolts like we used in.. you'll remember."

"The mission with.."

"Bump it don't say it.. yeah, that one."

"Okay. Three. Grab the hammer drill and some bolts."

One goes to the pile of things. "You need these spacers every three feet between the RSJ and the wall." He throws a couple.

"Why?"

"It's the way they do it."

"Okay. We'll do it their way."

"We have to. Everything is sized for how the lift will fit."

Two puts out a hand. "Up you jump."

Mattie's eyes go bug-eyed as Three gets a foot onto Two's hand and hauls himself up using the RSJ like a weightless flyer in a cheer leading team. "When'd you get so nimble?"

"Since first boot. Fourteenth rule of engagement, don't show the enemy your capabilities unnecessarily."

"We're the enemy now are we?"

"No Mattie. Some habits are harder to break than others."

"What's rule one?"

"Don't talk about rules two to ten to civilians."

"Why?"

"All I can say is they were written for use in hostile circumstances. And taking prisoners wasn't an option."

"So two to ten are gruesome?"

"That's one word you could use to describe them."

"When you're in.."

"In?"

"The workshop tomorrow, remind me to talk about rules."

~~~

[Chapter-139](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-139-1)


	139. Chapter 139

Mia finished giving Toby a shave, ran her fingers through his hair. "That's more like the Bubble Boy of my dreams."

"No beard on Bubble Boy then?"

"It's Bubble Boy not Bubble Man."

"True. In your dreams what did Moon Girl look like?"

"She wasn't wearing this."

"Fancy hitting the shops then?"

"You want me to dress how I think Moon Girl dresses?"

"Would that be a bad thing?"

"It might give some people the wrong idea."

"Why?"

"Having bunches and a onesie would make me look a lot younger."

"Ah.. the Niska and the dirty old man thing? A space suit onesie though.. If it was made right, plenty of detail, panels, things that said young adult astronaut not young child.. something from Ron's sketchbook but fleece lined and comfortable. You'd look gorgeous. And I don't see anything wrong with bunches. If they make you look younger and the onesie makes you look more mature than a kid.."

Mia put a finger to his lips. "Toby. You're rambling."

"Hm hm hmh."

"Yes, you are."

"Hm hmh."

The finger is removed and a kiss given. "Were."

"I'll ask Emily to draw it. Then I'll get your sister to comment on it. If Nis says it's okay then I'm going to pay for Barbara and Cindy to make it."

"And if she says it's not okay?"

"Then I'll ask what needs changing."

"And if it's still no?"

"Then Sam and Radiant can play the parts of Bubble Boy and Moon Girl."

"But _we're_ Bubble Boy and Moon Girl."

~~~

Sophie fed Snowy and got onto the bed between Renie and Radiant, feet at the headboard like them. The three had Conspiracy Theory ready to play. "Let's see if we can pick their conspiracy theory apart and prove it's a conspiracy to make Buzz and the others look bad."

Radiant rolled onto her side. "There is another way."

"What's that?"

"We interview Buzz and Buzz."

Renie rolled closer, "Go on?"

"Mummy says when people make things up they make a lot of mistakes. When it's real they make less mistakes because they're recalling things that actually happened."

Sophie spun onto her back. "There's an even better way."

"What's that?"

"We go looking in his backup." She rolls to face Radiant. "And by we I mean you."

"I can't do that as I'd break the fifth law. The Telegraph web site has a post Apollo 11 Moon Landing, conspiracy theories debunked. It says they had to be real as the asteroids that came back from the moon aren't scorched like the ones found on Earth."

Sophie turns the TV off. "What shall we do then? I'm bored. The luggage is still recharging."

Renie puts her head on a hand. "We could go and see Astrid and Niska?"

"Radiant's Mummies?"

"The asteroids. The James are busy with the lift installation, the tunnel will be empty."

"We'll need to change. And take these clothes down in a bag. And bottles of water and towels."

~~~

Mia zips up Toby's jacket. "There. All ready."

"Thanks." He does a look around the bed. "We've got everything. Let's go, the driver's waiting."

"What would you like for breakfast when we get home? The doctor said I have to be very prescriptive with my cooking for a few days."

"Prescriptive?"

"Nothing too heavy, fatty or acidic."

"So no full English for a while?"

~~~

Emily heard voices and grabbed the tins and brushes. She'd been levering off a lid to the white paint. She hides in the gap below the last few steps.

"If we assume it's perfectly round, the bottom is the bit James could see and not move, the distance to the surface above gives us one maximum for the diameter. How far in was it?"

"Sixteen meters Odi said."

"It can't be thirty two meters in diameter, the top would be above ground. James didn't give any clues as to how big it was?"

"Only _big, really big_."

"So maybe twenty meters?"

The three get off the last step and head to the concrete archway that led to the tunnel hole.

" _Excuse me!_ what do you think you're doing?" Emily was now stood behind them under the first arch seaction, arms folded and looking very disappointed.

Sophie drops her bag, swears under her breath.

Renie puts her bag down carefully. "We wanted to see the asteroids. We're bored."

"Then help me paint BB8. I've got lots of brushes. And Odi tells me Danny's wire order arrived, it would be nice to get another job off the list."

~~~

James Three held the second RSJ against the wall while Two stood on his shoulders and hammer-drilled the bolts in.

Two made quick work of the job. "Love these bolts. Drill bit end and expansion bolt all in one. How'd Kone get hold of them?"

One visually checked the alignment of the second RSJ to be bolted to the wall. It was attached to the rest of the frame. It had all been bolted together fast, would be welded later. "All sorts of things are invented for the military and work their way into civilian life. Like us three for example."

"Ha. That's true. I wonder what the rest of the unit are up to? Do you know One?"

"I do."

"Go on."

"I can't say locations or names. They're rescuing a bankster."

"You mean a gangster?"

"An off straight banker."

"He's bent?"

"Off straight."

"Like curved?"

"Yeah, slightly curved. Hasn't committed a crime _yet_ , got kidnapped about to."

"So he had intent. Naughty boy. We don't like naughty boys. Rule four for them. Grab their.."

Mattie covered her ears fast. "La la la don't say anything more!" She feels a hand on her shoulder and screams.

David laughs, "Aren't you the jumpy one this morning. I came to say the chip for fabrication equipment deal is on and confirmed in writing."

"Dan, did you hear that?"

Danny nods and gives two thumbs up.

David steps to the workshop threshold and looks up. "That went up fast!"

One starts climbing an RSJ with heavy chains in one hand. "Why hang about? We've been bumping, think we should put some formwork up and pour walls not brick them. We can pour a floor for the base of this too."

Mattie's eyes follow the chains down to the ground. The 'this' James was referring to was the large lift winch. "How heavy is that?"

"Several tons. I'd all get a suitable distance away while we get it up onto the top of the frame."

Danny steps backwards, "I'm going to see Emily then, I'll take the long way around."

Leo points at Danny. "I'm following him, see you around the front Angel?"

"Sure. Then I want to finish some code."

~~~

Toby swipes up to look at more of the menu Mia had put together to get him back onto solids. "That sounds like baby food. Bubble Baby food. Not Bubble Boy or Bubble Man."

"I'd take it slowly if I were you. And this is like food we'd take in the Sky Lift, reduced to limit the space we need for storage."

"What about water?"

"We'll need to take a lot. And have recycling machines. It would be best to keep the human to synth ratio per lift sufficiently synth biased."

"We're all human."

"You know what I mean."

"Recycling? As in urine?"

"Yes."

"Eww."

"The trip to the top will take many days. Dehydration is a killer."

~~~

[Chapter-140](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-140-1)


	140. Chapter 140

Danny, Leo, then Mattie step off the last step and gather around the painters.

"Frigging awesome work ladies!"

Sophie carefully does an edge of the cover to BB8's generator head. "We're trying to make it as accurate as possible."

Emily passes Radiant the black paint. "The large eye is a fibreglass cast of one of Toby's small practice footballs, the smaller one is a tennis ball.

"Where'd you find a tennis ball?"

"In the woods. It looked quite chewed."

"Oh. A dog's catch ball."

Emily dragged a box from under the steps. "Odi brought this down for us."

Danny recognised the logo on the box, rubbed his hands. "Get in there! We'll have BB8 spinning up today. Radiant, fancy another job? You'd be the most accurate and neatest person to do it."

"What's that Danny?"

"Help me wind the coils. There's a lot of them."

"How many?"

"Sixty four."

"Why that many?"

"The drive controller can work with them individually when the wrecking ball starts up, all alternating in sets of two. Positive, negative, positive, negative all the way around. Then as it gets faster it switches them in rotating groups of four, positive, negative, off, off, rotating the pattern just out of step with the base to keep pulling it faster. And we like working with binary numbers. They're easy to divide or shift, fit well with the electronics."

"Why positive and negative?"

"Okay. If you look at the base, the rotating bit the ball sits in, you'll see the U shapes that point out at the coil cores. If the leading positive switched coil is in alignment it will make the U positive. The negative switched coil will be attracted to it, creating a pulling force. See the coil and U shapes aren't at the same spacing? Close but out by a few centimetres."

"So the base will turn trying to get the U equally between the two?"

"It will. And being very heavy momentum will keep it turning. We then move the positive and negative to keep that movement up."

"How fast will it spin?"

"No idea. Faster than it was in the workshop I think. So it's just as well it's down here."

Mattie licks her lips. "And now we're building a fire exit route that would let it roll into your lab?"

"Dozer's already thought about that, we'll set a giant pin in the ground, like those barriers that stop lorries going down streets."

Radiant picks up the first big reel of wire. "What do I need to do?"

"I'll start one, you can watch."

"Okay."

~~~

Toby and Mia were met by Odi at the front doors. "Welcome home Toby. Are you feeling better?"

"Thanks Odi, much better. And hungry."

"The Seventy Eight Club are waiting for you in the living room."

"They're still here? Why?"

"The start of their astronaut training and waiting for you."

~~~

Minutes later the group, minus their driver who'd said her goodbyes and raced off to get the coach, did a lot of hand shaking and cheek kissing. Odi had let them know Toby had arrived, a lucky dozen had their names drawn from a shoe box. They'd be joining Miami and the others at the weekend for the flight to Orlando.

Carmen flutters her eyes at Toby. "I am most sorry for the trouble I caused you Toby, I hope you forgive me?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. No harm done. You've been learning a lot I see?" The whiteboard was covered in tiny diagrams and writing.

The Spanish synth curled hair around a finger, "Si Toby! We're going to help save the world!"

"Cool. Have a safe trip home."

"Thank you Toby."

~~~

Radiant watched Danny's hand moving around the metal. "What will keep the wire in place?"

"We'll coat it with a thin resin that will set solid."

"Can I offer a suggestion?"

"Sure?"

"A hollow rod with the end opened out like a trumpet and the wire threaded through it would allow me to move my hand around fast without it touching the adjacent parts. Like this." She mimes the action.

"Um.. I'm not sure.. actually.. some copper pipe with a quickly printed plug might do it. Give me a few minutes to have a rummage in the workshop."

"I shall return to my painting while I wait."

"Sure. Anyone want a drink while I'm up there?"

Emily, Renie and Emily raise hands.

"Charge cable Radiant?"

"I'm good thank you Danny."

~~~

Mattie watched everyone for a while, went to look at the tunnel hole and spotted the bags of clothes. She steps back into the shaft holding them up at arms length. "Was someone planning to do something potentially dangerous?"

Sophie broke eye contact after seeing what Mattie was doing. "A plan aborted." She glances at Emily.

"Good. If the one above decided to shift you'd be squished like a fly on a windscreen. Or be stuck in the tunnel trapped behind it. The only people going in there now are James. Is that understood?"

"Yes Mattie."

"Renie? Radiant?"

"Yes Mattie."

"Yes Mattie."

"Good. We'll ask them to video it next time they're in there." Mattie picked up a brush, "Which bit can I do?"

Sophie points, "If you want an easy bit any of the white. Inside the masked areas with the white blobs."

"And if I want something more challenging?"

"You can try some of the thin lines."

"And where do they go?"

"Check out Danny's BB8 toy, it's under the stairs."

"Okay." Mattie gets it and a thin brush.

~~~

Ten minutes later Danny returns with drinks.

Mattie paints another of the orange rectangles towards the bottom of BB8's head and grins at Leo. Orange. "Penny for it Bunny?"

"I'm just thinking about that code idea."

"Which one?"

"The where's a file one."

"I still think we md5sum all the files, create a hash of filename, signature and locations seen."

"What about all the other metadata? Owner, creation and last update times?"

"That too."

Emily sat on a step and took a drink, wiped her mouth. "Why'd you need that?"

Leo wraps an arm around Mattie, "Mattie's not a synth, writes code sometimes and forgets which laptop she did it on."

"There's another way."

"What's that?"

"Install an audit agent and have it send the data to LogStash, use ElasticSearch and Kibana to look through it."

"Like admin's do at Uni for all the server log data?"

"Yeah."

"Want to set it up?"

"Sure Babes."

Mattie painted more orange, got thoughts off Leo and onto the reason the wrecking ball was down there. "The control box for the coils Dan, have you load tested it?"

"On the bike wheel prototype."

"Did you add the vibration detection?"

"Bugger!"

"You forgot?"

"No, I didn't forget. I forgot to add a feature I was thinking of adding to the vibration detection."

Sophie artistically painted the inner of two small circles under BB8's main eye. "What was that Danny?"

"An analog output of the wobble with a tiny marker pulse."

Renie stood back and took in what the wrecking ball was beginning to look like. "So you can work out balancing?"

"The mathematician gets it in one! Yes. We can fine tune Miley's balance. The faster the ball turns the more energy it stores and the longer we can draw current if the mains input fails. Or we can draw high current for longer for any future machines that need it."

"Would you add weights like on a car wheel?"

"No, they might fly off. I'd drill bits out of the heavy side. With a long thin drill bit."

Sophie lets her brush hang by her side. "So we can't turn it on today?"

"We can, just not push it up to the higher speeds. I'll work on the analog thing later."

"Yay!"

~~~

[Chapter-141](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-141-1)


	141. Chapter 141

Laura pulled into her new parking space and looked at the temporary sign made from a laminated sheet of A4. Space Reserved for Laura Hawkins. She'd arrived.

"Congratulations again Laura."

"Thank you Alfie."

"When might I expect you?"

"I don't know, I'm here to talk to Fiona about my assistant. Or assistants."

"If you could phone me when you need me, give me a wakeup call?"

"You're going to sleep?"

"As well as a proper name badge they'll need to install a charge point for me. I'm all electric."

"I was wondering where the petrol cap was. Do you have enough charge to get us home?"

"If I go into a deep sleep."

"Which number do I call?"

Laura's phone chimes as a message comes in. "That one. The message with Alfie smilie face."

"Okay. I'll call you when I'm ready to go."

"See you later then."

Laura got out and heard the doors lock. A car she could hold a reasonably decent conversation with would take some getting used to. She smiles awkwardly and waves, "I'll see you later." Back turned to Alfie she gets her bearings again and heads for the stairs.

~~~

Upstairs on the ground floor she's met by Fiona. "Was that you I spotted turning onto the carpark ramp a few minutes ago?"

"A black shiny Lexus? If so yes."

"Celebrating with a new car already?" Fiona heads upstairs.

"Lord no, I couldn't justify that. One of the visitors to the estate borrowed the car with Niska and wrecked it. He and his friends felt so bad about it they got me Alfie."

"You've named it?"

"No, that was his name already. I'll introduce you to him at lunch time. He's had a DCL mod."

"Ah.. your friend Danny's done something to it."

"He and Emily, she does the software, Danny the hardware. With bits of help from Mattie and Leo here and there."

"That's all smoke and mirrors magic to me. I know how to use my word processor and spreadsheet like a pro. What goes on inside the case of my laptop? Not a clue. But that's why we pay for a good IT service and why they come to us with their legal issues."

"Hmm. I'm in the same boat."

"I hope you're good at navigating rapids. Have you picked your two?"

"The other partners said yes?"

"How could they possibly say no?"

Laura gave Fiona an embarrassed smile, "Sorry if that caused you any grief."

"Grief? Gosh no. They were expecting it."

"Really?"

"For exactly the reasons you gave."

"That's a relief."

Fiona stops and leans against the banister. "So who did you pick?"

"If they're willing, Tina and Geoff."

"Well that's a surprise. Our youngest synth and oldest non-partner human. If you don't mind me asking, why them?"

"Tina's children have all grown up, the last one's moved out to start university, she wants a change. And Geoff.. Geoff has a lot of potential."

"Geoff has agoraphobia. Crowds and open spaces. Have you ever seen him leave the building?"

"Oh, I'd just assumed he liked working long hours. Does he want that fixed?"

"No. I've already asked if he'd like David to help, he says he's comfortable being an indoor person. Who's your second choice?"

"Penny. But that makes it an all women team. Which might upset the men."

"Then let me take Tina on, you take Julius. Then you've got a synth and person of colour, a man and woman. That should keep the majority happy."

"Julius.. known to his friends as July on Saturdays? He'll be perfect. A sharp legal mind even if it is a bit nonstandard in other areas. Not unlike my Michael."

"How are things with you too?"

"They couldn't be better."

"I thought so and glad to hear it. You've been looking more confident in yourself, less stressed. And your hair.. wow."

"Thanks. Mattie took me for a deep conditioning. I think we'll make it a regular thing. That reminds me, I still owe Simon some money. Their card machine was down."

~~~

Fred checked the progress Alfie was making and returned to his patient.

She holds out a clipboard with signed papers. "You're sure I'll be able to feel?"

"It will take some time. Our original plan was to amputate above the knee. Now I've seen the damage for myself we'll carefully separate the joint with keyhole surgery and modify the upper half to take the synthetic knee joint. We'll carefully save the nerve bundle and attach one of HECLS nerve to synth boards. There isn't much room for battery cells in the calf muscle, you'll need to charge daily when you sleep."

"Why save the knee?"

"You can wear long socks that end just below the knee, nobody will know you've got half a synth leg. There is one catch."

"What's that?"

"You'll need to buy two pairs of shoes. The leg Max and Flash found is a size larger than your other foot."

"A small price to pay."

Flash gives her a frown. "You're not a collector of shoes?"

"I am. A working foot is worth a bit of shoe aggravation. You said it will take some time?"

"To train the interface. We need to touch the new leg everywhere and map the locations so you feel them in the right places. It will be faster than mapping out whole legs like we did for the prince. I need to go prep the leg, try and get some sleep if you can."

"Can someone explain the diagram?"

"Certainly." Fred sits on the edge of the bed. "This rod section will go up through the knee joint into the femur. It will ensure you can put your whole body weight onto the new foot without the leg breaking. It will be coated in a special powder that makes flesh and bone graft to it as if it were bone. This layer will house the interface board and terminate all the many sensor wires. The nerve bundle will pass through this hole here. This is the charge coil, these are the batteries. These points are where your tendons will attach."

"Charge coil?"

"Like some smart phones, so there's no socket."

"So I'll be able to go surfing again?"

"I can't think of anything you couldn't do."

"You Beaut! You mentioned my tendons?"

"You'll still use your upper legs muscles, the knee cap will be your one. The lower leg will control the foot and toes."

"Could you replace a hand?"

"We'd need to replace the lower arm, there wouldn't be room for power cells in just a hand."

"Will you be around long? My friend had her hand bitten off."

"A shark attack?"

"Dog. Bastard thing bit her right in the wrist joint and pulled her along the beach."

Flash looked shocked. "It dragged her?"

"Crazy pitbull. She's quite petite. It wasn't all the dogs fault, the owner had been mistreating it, training it to be an attack dog."

"What happened to the dog?"

"It was put down, the owner's in jail."

"You'll be our second leg recipient, your friend the second to get an arm."

~~~

Laura sat and smiled at the four. "Geoff, Penny, Julius, Tina, if it's acceptable to you all, Tina will become Fiona's second assistant, Penny and Julius will work with me and Geoff gets a promotion to senior records clerk."

Geoff looks like he could cry. "Thank you Mrs Hawkins! Thank you!"

"If you ever want that fear fixed let me know."

"I won't, but thank you for the offer."

Laura focuses on Penny. "How do you feel about it?"

"I look forward to it thank you Laura."

"Good, and you Julius?"

"A little nervous to be honest."

"Why?"

"We've not worked together before.. you.. you might find me a little.."

"Different? I _live_ with different. My partner is a Charlie that was rescued by Mia. And Michael's sister Niska is in a relationship with Astrid. That's a girls name if you weren't aware. No openly gay men yet, but I'd be fine with it if there were."

Julius's eyes open wide, "How positively wonderful! We'll get on just fine then."

Laura does a slow nod, "Good. How do you feel about working with Fiona Tina?"

"Okay."

"Just okay?"

"I'm keeping a lid on it."

Fiona leans back in her chair. "Let the lid off for a second."

"I'd embarrass myself."

"Are you happy though?"

"Are you familiar with Jump Around by the House of Pain? It's my eldest's favourite."

"You'd find it painful working with me?"

Laura has a good laugh, "Fee, it's a celebration song."

"Is it?"

"*I came to get down, I came to get down

So get out your seat and jump around?* You've never heard it?"

"If I'd had children I might have."

~~~

[Chapter-142](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-142-1)


	142. Chapter 142

One lowered the rope, a bag of tools on the end. "There's one thing I didn't see on that diagram. Where does the power for the winch go?"

The engineer turns to the last page in the diagrams, "Ah. I'm missing a page. On the end nearest you there should be a square panel."

"I see it."

"If you remove that you'll find a junction box below. You'll need some heavy duty cable."

"We've got some. It needs a bit of mud washing off it. We'll come back to that in a bit. If you stick the angle grinder in the bag I'll chop out the doorway for the first floor doors. Two, want to get on the other side to give it a light tap?"

"You mean punch it boss?"

"No, I mean light tap. We can use what we cut out to make the ground floor doorway smaller."

"Ah.. the Miley doors. Understood. Stand by a cut and do a sonic thump, I'll listen out for you."

James One looks down at the engineer, "You might want to walk away for a few minutes, it'll get dusty."

The engineer opens a box and pulls out a whole head hood with breathing filters.

"Ah.. nice mod."

~~~

Radiant had been working fast.

Danny was feeling a little jealous. "You've definitely got a job with DCL if you want to earn some pocket money."

"Can we switch it on?"

"Give me five minutes to finish wiring the coils to the power board."

Mattie held a brush at arms length, "Oi! Join the queue, Radiant's talents can help HECLS too. Emily, can you see any bits we've missed? Emily? Where are you?"

Emily jumps up on the other side of BB8, "Stand and deliver!"

"Lols Ems! A bit too much white paint left?"

" _I'm the dandy highwayman who you're too scared to mention. I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention_."

"That's a bit too old school for you isn't it?"

"Not the drum and bass remix."

"What drum and bass remix?"

"Ant Music."

"No idea. Play it for us later."

"Sure Babes. There's no way I'm touching my phone like this with mucky hands."

~~~

Laura phoned Alfie, "Wake up, we're heading home."

"Already?"

"I've got a stack of new files to read, Penny and Julius are rearranging the office so we can all work in the one room."

"Do partners normally share their offices?"

"No. I'm doing things my way, not their's."

"Good for you. Where will you read them?"

"In the garden on the roof."

"Secondary systems are awake. I'm ready when you are."

~~~

Mattie risked touching a bit of paint. "Wow, that dries fast." She looks down at the legs poking out from under BB8's base. "No way would you get me under that thing. You're frigging mad Dan."

"You should see how they've made it. I reckon it would take the weight of Dozer's bigger ball easy. These guys are bridge builders. Bridges you could drive a tank over. This thing's going nowhere. One more.. ow! fuck!"

"Is it moving?"

"No, I just splashed hot solder onto my hand."

"Want some cold water?"

"Too late." He twists, "I'll make sure I'm not under it this time.. Okay. That's the last one." He wriggles out. "As CEO I think you should have the honour of turning it on for a test spin."

"It's your invention and Emily's design. You can both do it."

Danny looks at Emily's hands. "Is that all dry now?"

"Yes Babes."

"Okay. The box under BB8 is controlled by a box in the workshop. It uses encrypted signals over the mains. I've got a battery WiFi repeater up at the top of the shaft, with a bit of luck this app should let you spin it up."

Emily takes the phone, "You've limited the RPM?"

"Yeah. A max of one hundred and twenty today, two a second."

Emily taps.

BB8 buzzes, doesn't move.

Danny frowns. "Blast."

Renie gently places hands on the ball, "I think it needs a push to get started, the coils and U shapes were in alignment."

"Oh, good spot. Princess, can you tap the off icon? Thanks. Okay, if you can all help push."

The ball starts to slowly turn.

"Cool, that should do it, Princess, tap Go again."

There's another loud buzzing and the ball starts to move without their pushing.

Radiant waves at Danny, "Why is it buzzing?"

"We've got some AC leaking through to the coils and the resin didn't soak all the way into the middle before it set."

"Is that a problem?"

"There's microscopic movement which will create heat, we'll need to fix that somehow."

They all stand back as the wrecking ball slowly picks up speed. The generator head was held on by an arm that ran back to the shaft side under a step. It also carried the start of the mains output that would be linked to the house. It looked more like a drain pipe. A light bulb had been wired to the junction box it ran to, it started to glow ever so faintly.

"What's that cable rated at Dan?"

"One sixty amps. It'll go to a double locked fuse box behind a locked cabinet that needs two different people to unlock it. It's beyond lethal levels of current. We'll have feeds with fuses at much lower ratings running off it."

They watch it for a few more seconds.

"Brilliant. We can shut it down now and cover it up, we'll do the next run when the tunnel's finished. The guys will have their bucket lift running tomorrow, things will get messy in here."

~~~

Sophie helped put lids back on tins. "What can we do now Mattie?"

"You can help me make some lunch?"

"Then what?"

"Um.. not sure. I want to get some coding off my list."

Leo gets all the brushes together. "What sorts of things do you want to do?"

"Something constructive? Anything else need painting?"

Danny pulls his phone out, "If Emily can give us a lift to the suppliers I want to make Alfie even bigger."

"Why?"

"Water jet cutting time. For working bike prototype number one. I'll need a hand making the new cutting tool."

"COOL!"

Mattie gives Danny a serious stare, "PPE for all of you right? Gloves, goggles, the lot."

"And safety glass to sit between us as an added precaution."

"Thanks." Mattie gets to the bottom step and turns to see the arch. "Does anyone think Odi could fly his drone into the tunnel?"

~~~

[Chapter-143](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-143-1)


	143. Chapter 143

James heard the thud of One's sonic sounder. 'Once more.'

Thud.

'One light tap coming up.' He punches the wall lightly. A crack runs from the impact spot up and down the wall. He follows the line and gets his fist ready. 'Here comes another.' He does a punch at the same strength. The crack runs further up the wall and turns ninety degrees to the right. 'And again.'

James One watched as small amounts of dust flew from the slots he'd cut with the grinder. 'So far so good.'

'Another.' Dust flew.

'Okay. That's the top and sides. What about the floor?'

'I can't see the crack boss. It must be below skirting board height. I could get down and punch just above it?'

'Okay. Try that.'

A number of seconds later there's a thud. No dust.

'Try harder.'

Thud.

'Harder still.'

THUD.

'Still not cracking? Try hitting it with both fists, each a third in.'

THUDS.

'Did they intend for this thing to be bomb proof? Really punch it!'

James closes his eyes just before being hit by a shower of dust and flying masonry.

"Boss? You okay boss?"

He waits a few seconds for things to clear and opens his eyes. "Nice hole. Let's clear up downstairs."

Two steps to the edge and reaches for an RSJ. "I'll take the fast route. Watch out below Three."

There's running from behind. "What the hell.. oh it's you."

James turns to see Toby, "Nice hole eh?"

"Yeah, lovely. Shame we had to lose the utility room."

"Part of the workshop has to go too, Fred won't want to wheel patients through there."

"True. When the lab's done the workshop use will probably be more computer based, less milling and printing."

'Boss, I better stay up here and guard the hole until the door is in place.'

'Okay, one door kit coming up.'

'Thanks boss.' He nods to Toby, "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, much better thanks."

"I hear there's a lady who's got cores in meltdown over you."

"Do what?"

"Got the hots for you."

"Mia."

"Mia sure she's nice, someone hotter."

"Nice? She's way better than nice! Who are you talking about?"

"Carmen. The Spanish lady."

"Oh. She's alright, if you like that sort of thing."

"You don't think she's attractive?"

"Sure, to a point. Not in Mia's league, she's perfect."

"Mia's perfect?"

"Absolutely."

"You wouldn't change her in any way if you could?"

"How do you improve on perfection?"

Mia stepped silently backwards towards the stairs. 'Don't you dare look in my direction James.'

'Understood.'

Toby spots the corner of something rising above the skirting board from outside. "Watch your back."

James Two turns to see. "The door kit." He leans out to grab it. "We'll need something to cut the skirting board boss."

"The engineer is on his way up."

"Okay."

Toby hears footsteps and turns, "Hi, I'm Toby."

"Endre. Who was that stunning lady walking down the stairs as I came up?"

"No idea, what did she look like?"

"Asian, grey wooly crop top jumper and hip height jeans."

"Eh? _Down_ the stairs? That's my partner Mia."

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't.."

"Relax. Gorgeous isn't she?"

"She is."

"You didn't see her on the TV after the awakening?"

Endre looks around for a mains socket and plugs in his MultiMaster. "I was on holiday on an island in the Caribbean. I got to see some small black and white photos in the paper when I got home, they didn't do her justice." He switches it on and makes the first of two cuts.

"That's neat, what is it?"

"This old thing? My Fein. Some people call it an oscillating saw, some a reciprocating saw. It's nice for jobs like this. It's safer too, it won't rip through fingers like a jigsaw or spinning saw blade would."

"Why?"

The second cut is made. Endre stands, Toby backs off. "Look at the blade, it's hardly moving."

Toby cautiously gets closer. "So you could touch it?"

"Now it's had a chance to cool, gently. The blades can get hot fast when cutting. If you gently touch the end it'll just vibrate your skin."

"So it cuts when it touches something that can't move?"

"That's it." He switches it off, turns to James, "Sorry, let's get that fitted."

~~~

[Chapter-144](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-144-1)


	144. Chapter 144

Toby finds Mia in the workshop talking to the others. "Hi."

"Tobs, there you are. How's the stomach?"

"Good thanks. What are you listening to?"

"One of the tracks on Emily's playlist. Above and Beyond's Sun and Moon."

Emily stops her illustrating for a second, " _Whoa_.. now there's an idea!"

"What?"

" _Sun_ Boy and Moon Girl. He's in a bubble because he's _so hot_.."

Toby chuckles, "I'm not that hot."

"Temperature hot, like the sun."

"Oh. Carry on."

"He doesn't want to hurt Moon Girl. They love each other like crazy but can never share a kiss. Except in their dreams. He'd incinerate anything he came close to if he stepped out of the bubble."

"Frigging hell. That's a heart breaker. Hardly a book for kids Ems?"

"Three little pigs, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Not all kids stories are nice and fluffy."

"True. What do you think Mia?"

"I like the idea. We could do both and get some feedback from parents?"

Toby rubs his chin, deep in thought. "There's technology in this book right?"

Leo does a doodle on a pad. "There has to be, to contain the heat of Sun Boy so he doesn't burn through the bubble."

"So what if.. what if Sun Boy loves her so much he has a synth body made that he can control telepathically, gets his kiss?"

Leo looks up from his doodle, "Have you been talking to James?"

"Yeah, I was watching Two help fit the door kit upstairs."

"And he mentioned the radio link idea?"

"No? What radio link idea?"

"What you've just mentioned. For when they're in their new bodies."

"New bodies?"

"Normal human looking ones."

"I didn't know they wanted some. They looked quite happy in the ones they have a moment ago."

"That's because they're doing demanding work. In their down time they'd like to mix with others. Without the risk of crushing their friends."

"Oh. Understandable. Was that why James Two was humming a Rihanna song?"

"He's in love."

"Total coincidence then on the telepathic link idea. What do you think? Technology saves the day or we leave him heartbroken and watching the love of his life from a distance?"

Renie raises a hand. "I think there should be some heartbreak in the middle of the story, then someone figures out a solution for him. Or he works it out himself. This is HECLS. You fix things."

Emily raises a hand, "Like my father's legs. It gets my vote Toby."

Sophie giggles and raises a hand, "You're _so hot_ Toby."

Poppy raises hers, "It gets my vote too. Do HECLS build the body for him?"

Mattie chuckles, "A bit of product placement eh? Okay, that gets my vote."

David raises a hand and nods.

Radiant raises her left hand, "And they have a daughter and live happily ever after?"

Mia votes, "They could adopt. There are lots of children that need loving parents."

Astrid gives Niska a kiss and puts a hand as high into the air as it will go. "Does your story need shooting stars? We hear there may be some asteroids nicknamed Niska and Astrid."

Miami puts both hands into the air. "I vote yes, yes."

Toby looks at the astronauts. "Guys? You've all been really quiet. What do you think?"

Buzz, Spider, Wrench, Rocket and Maverick put all of their hands up. Michael copies them.

"Awesome. Twelve more votes." Toby looks at Niska. "You'd make a great poker player. What are you thinking Nis?"

She gives him a good guys smile. "Let's do it."

Ron gives Emily wide open eyes, "Want a hand illustrating it? I've never had my name on a children's book before."

"Sure hun."

James Three knocks as lightly as he can. "Excuse me please? We need to take these doors down and make the hole smaller ready for the lift doors."

~~~

[Chapter-145](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-145-1)


	145. Chapter 145

They all relocated to the garden upstairs and found Laura reading.

Mattie spots the stack of files on the floor. "Sorry, we'll go to the living room."

"Stay, I could do with a break." She closes the file. "I can only take in so much at a time. What are you all up to?"

"Toby and Mia wrote a book while in hospital, Emily just had an idea pop into her head that gives it a twist. We've all just voted on it."

Mia sits opposite Laura, "It makes the book quite a bit longer. In a good way."

"What's it going to be called?"

"Sun Boy and Moon Girl. It's a children's story."

"That's nice." The noise of drilling drifts up from down below. "Why didn't we make the lift come up to the garden while we had the chance?"

Mia looks at Mattie. "A very good question Laura. We could remove that awkward narrow staircase."

"Um.. pass. Leo?"

Leo looks at Danny. "Because we were too focused on getting it to the lab?"

"Er.. yeah. One moment." Danny races to the far end of the building and pushes through hedges in pots. "Guys!"

James one looks up. "Danny?"

"You've not started welding yet have you?"

"We have, why?"

"Where?"

"The bottom."

"So we could extend the frame up to bring the lift to the garden?"

"I'll send Endre up."

"Thanks buddy."

~~~

Leo does the maths silently in his head, waits for Danny to return. "We'd need the winch drum replacing and a longer set of cables. That's not going to come cheap." He looks at Mattie. "An expensive upgrade to get up to the garden."

Danny takes his seat next to Emily. "Sorted."

Mattie gives him an _Oh really_ look.

"Plan C."

"You have a plan C already?"

"We build one of those wheelchair ramps that zigzags down a level."

"And how do you get your heavy lab equipment down that?"

"Um.. we don't. We have a ramp that extends out above the lower part of the ramp, have a cherry picker scissor lift take things down."

"And how much is that going to cost? Less than a lift upgrade?"

"No idea, ask him."

Mattie turns to see the engineer, "WATCH THE LAST STEPS!"

Endre trips but manages to regain his balance. "Quel beau jardin!"

Mia turns to see him. "Merci beaucoup!"

Toby finds a chair. "We were wondering Endre.. how much would it be to get a bigger winch drum and cables?"

"Why? How high do you want to go?"

"A floor up to here and say four floors down."

"Toby!"

"Dan! Chill. Endre I'm going to be building an underground wine store so we can keep the temperature constant all year around. When I say wine I mean champagne and wine. The good stuff."

"Lovely! I visited one on my holidays, it had a really small spiral staircase, a nightmare to get down. They had some Chateau Mouton-Rothschild 1945. What I'd have done for a taste."

"You couldn't afford it?"

"Twenty three thousand dollars a bottle? In my dreams."

"Shit! Twenty three _grand_ a bottle?"

"And some of their guests would drink a bottle with their evening meal as if they were drinking a twenty pound bottle from their local Waitrose."

"Millionaires were they?"

"Billionaires I think. I was like.. in English.. A fish out of water?"

"I think we all would be. Are you French? You don't sound it."

"I was born there, my mother is English, my father French. I speak each with the right accent."

"Nice. So how much for extending?"

"This wine vault, will you be offering secure storing services to others?"

"Um.."

Mia nods, "Yes. We'll make it big enough."

"In which case I'll do a deal if we can go into partnership together."

Laura rests her chin on the back of a hand. "Care to sign paperwork today? Danny you could design a secure tagging system to hold and catalog each bottle couldn't you?"

"You mean like the rice grain RFID tags for the laundry? We could epoxy one to the bottom of each bottle, have a reader in the slot it rests in."

Leo does a slow nod, "And a temperature sensor."

Emily puts down her pen, "We could offer a web service so customers can check in on their bottles, book a visit to pick up or drop off. If I did the look and feel would you do the backend logic Matilla?"

"Sure. That's an unexpected bonus job Tobs."

"Yeah, just a bit. I think we should build it large, have a wall on rails that can be pushed along, allow us to extend as the service grows."

"We could get train track from the old carriage site?"

"I think we'd want U shaped track wheels could sit in. Short lengths we could get down in the lift."

Laura stands and picks up her folders. "Would you like to come downstairs and talk numbers and terms? Sorry, I don't know your name."

"Endre. Oi. Yes I would."

"Come on then Toby."

~~~

Danny watches the three disappear through the hatch. "Guys!"

Mia puts a finger to her lips for a few seconds. "Danny the wine cellar would be a front. The movable wall could have a large door to the lab."

"And the heat it might produce?"

"Then we have several walls, good air conditioning to vent it out into the shaft."

"Hmm. I suppose we could. And it's another service offering with an IT twist."

Buzz sits forwards, "You kids are unbelievable. The way you take ideas from the simplest of things and blow them up into something big and amazing."

Wrench nods, "On the subject of amazing.. Your build machine is sat idle. And I can't stop thinking about Red." He gives Leo and David a hopeful smile. "Any chance you can fire it up?"

David sits back and puts an arm around Poppy, puts one leg over the other, "We could, if it wasn't already busy."

"Busy? I've not heard a peep out of it."

"The sound dampening's working then."

"What's it doing if you don't mind me asking?"

"A Rocket that's going to be launched soon and fly to Florida."

Wrench looks at his friend and frown, "Ron? Is there something you need to tell us?"

"I'm having a holiday in Orlando for a week." He exchanges a glance and smile with Miami. "I'll be back to help with the Sky Lift, Mia and Toby's book, then back to the US of A. Where I plan to make sure an a-hole called Jack never causes anyone any bother."

"You know what your body will look like?"

"I do. Thirty four. When I was at my best."

"Before the baldness started."

"Like I said, when I was at my best. Turn your hearing aid up Wrench you old duffer!"

"Get your teeth in and talk properly Ron I can't make out what you're saying."

Spider puts his feet up on the edge of one of the plant pots. "Stop messing around, you'll make our hosts think you're arguing for real. Sorry Wrench, the queue's been growing. After Ron there's the three James brothers."

"Whaaaaat."

"Lover boy's going to have to learn to be patient."

"When did it start?"

"Monday after Buzz stepped out."

"So fifteen days from there mine can finish?"

"Something like that. The James builds might take longer."

"And I thought being stuck in a tin can waiting for liftoff felt like an eternity some times."

~~~

Laura opened the bottom of the cabinet in the living room and pulled out the draw, loaded paper into the printer. "You're still happy with this Endre? The costs everyone else are offering don't look like they'll bring much revenue in."

"Not day one. It'll be a few months before the wine clubs all hear about you and the members start getting their more expensive bottles over for storage. This will be a long term thing. Some customers will want to store by the case. Actually we need to be sure of what our consolidation rules are."

Laura checked the printer was online. "The what?"

"When we charge for basic case storage it assumes there's a dozen bottles. Imagine a customer with four cases, each a dozen bottles of four different wines. If they take out half a dozen bottles of two wines that gives two full cases, two half empty. Some wine storage firms wouldn't consolidate them down to three full cases, would continue to charge for four. That doesn't go down well with some customers. Some customers wouldn't want their wine disturbed, would rather pay for four."

Toby makes a note. "Easy. On sign up we say by default we'll consolidate _unless_ they say don't, or say don't for a given case. If we use the RFID tags everything can be accurately tracked."

Endre nods, " _That's_ the reason I think we'll do well. Prices that don't rip people off, full honest and transparent information on what's happening in the vault. Another thing is access. So many places shut too early. By the time people get away from the office, it's too late to get to the vault then home."

"And we'd have someone about most days into the evening."

~~~

[Chapter-146](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-146-1)


	146. Chapter 146

Just as they're finishing an early dinner Odi gets a bump. "I do believe James One is attempting humour. He and Endre want a brave test pilot to travel from the ground to first floor."

Leo crosses knife and fork, "Much as you'd like it to be you Sophie I think it should be someone who's already in a synth body."

Wrench nods, " _And_ would be happy to join the build machine queue of half a month."

Niska lowers her hand.

Radiant keeps her's up. "I'll do it."

Mia stands, "I'm the eldest, I'll do it."

David stands, "I'm the eldest."

"Sit down. I was built before you. Your body came later. And don't challenge me Odi, you've got plenty new parts."

Toby reaches out for her hand, "The lift's supposed to be able to carry a lot of weight. Let a James do it."

"Take the stairs, I'll meet you on the first floor."

"Mia."

"Sun Boy, I'll see you upstairs." She leaves the room.

Toby looks around the large group, "I better do as told."

Mattie nods, "Yeah, that sounded like a _I used to tie your shoe laces_ sort of statement. Go see Moon Girl on the first floor."

Toby gets to the end of the hallway and turns the corner just as the lift doors were closing. "Nice job, looks well smart." He doubles back and takes the stairs two steps at a time.

On the first floor he finds the doors closed, the sign showing the lift was coming up. There's a bing and the doors start to open, a hand grabs him by the shirt and yanks him in. He's pulled into an embrace like a rag doll in a tornado, a second hand cradling his head. Mia's lips locked with his.

Without a proper lift floor they slip a little on the bare metal. Mia gets them both into a corner. "Do you honestly think I'm perfect?"

"Eh? Why.." He recalls Endre's comment. "Yeah, yeah I do."

"I've been Anita Hawkins, I want to be Mrs Mia Hawkins. Your wife. Officially. Now."

"You won't find a church or registry office open now.."

The lift bings again and doors start to open.

".. and do we want to do it before Mattie and Leo?"

There's a laugh. "Frigging hell. Aren't you two the hot mess. Get a room not a lift. And no, we wouldn't mind would we Leo? Going up."

Toby couldn't turn to see, didn't want to. Mia had both hands around his face, her lips giving him the most amazing kiss. The lift bing went, they were back on the first floor . It was so smooth he hadn't been conscious of it moving. He had been somewhat distracted though.

~~~

Danny leads his team into the workshop. "Let's finish this."

"And start it?"

He turns to see Niska. "If you, Radiant and Odi don't mind working and charging at the same time, start and finish. Enough to get on it."

"And the electronics?"

"I'll take the Alfie from King Drone, we shouldn't be needing that again."

Emily opens her laptop, "In which case I've got a code update for him."

Odi gets the folded up monster surveillance drone down from the shelf. "What are we doing for tyres?"

"Um.. until custom tyres arrive we're going to cut up the five tyres on Laura's old car into strips, bond them onto some carbon fibre. I'm adding electromagnetic suspension."

Radiant goes to a shelf and checks a box. "I get to make coils again?"

"You do. If you'd like?"

"I'd like that. This time we should have a way to get the resin on to set the coil solid as I wind."

"Good thinking."

Sophie gets some chairs back around the construction Alfie. "What can I do?"

"You and Renie can finish the water jet assembly, I'll finish sorting out the bigger frame. And Odi mate, you can help me bring the glass in from outside?"

Odi puts down a screwdriver. "May I suggest a couple of James bring it in? It would damage your back trying to lift it."

"Damage my back? It's only six foot by four?"

Odi frowns, "Six meters by four. You did want six by four meters didn't you?"

"Oh.. sorry, that's being around Dad so much. Um, we'll find uses for it.. If we get it on several benches we could sit Alfie on top and water jet cut a section for the protection screen? Hell we could cut four and surround Alfie."

Sophie nods, "Five and make it a tank. Something needs to catch all the water."

"True. We'll need to clear the room while it cuts, put up sheets to stop it splashing everywhere."

"Why not do the first cuts outside?"

"No reason. We'd need to dismantle the benches and get them outside onto the drive. And buy a couple of hose kits."

Renie screwed two large metal components together. "What's the flow rate going to be like?"

"High. We'll need a rain water tank to draw from."

Renie checks her watch, "If you go to the garden centre right now you might just make it."

Niska gets up, "Let me go ask Laura if I can borrow her Alfie."

Astrid watches her go. "Need someone riding shotgun?"

~~~

Laura fishes the keys from her bag. "You promise this one will come back without a scratch?"

"I promise. There's no James coming with me this time."

"Ask him if he's fully charged." The keys are held out.

"Thank you Laura."

~~~

Outside they find James Three on guard duty.

He turns and bows, "Good evening ladies."

"Hello James. Is everything okay?"

"One and Two are building the bucket lift ready for the morning. Frank and Dozer can't make it but the concrete lorry can. We'll get a good few hours tunnelling in before the extra RSJ arrive."

"Okay, see you in a bit, we're doing a quick shop."

~~~

Toby smiled, framed the shot better. Mia was sat on the bed on her knees, in just knickers and the crop top jumper, the Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet under one arm.

"Shouldn't I be wearing it on my head?"

"And hide that beautiful face? No way."

Mia smiles.

Click. "Perrrrfection." Shot taken he climbs on the bed and sits so his bent legs are over hers. He kisses her gently. "I know you want to get married first thing tomorrow. We can't." His finger touches her lips before she can reply. "We need to go ring shopping first. And would you want to get Married without Max, Fred and Flash there?" The finger is removed and another light kiss given.

"No. That would be selfish."

"We'd be officially bringing the Elster and Hawkins families.. oh my God. They'll be two MEH. Mia Elster-Hawkins and Mattie Elster-Hawkins."

"I want to be Mia Hawkins."

"No Elster?"

"No Elster. It's a shame you're not the Elster and I the Hawkins."

"Why?"

She pulls the helmet onto his head. "Because then I could be ME once we're married. Didn't you ask Leo to get you one of these?"

"Yeah, as a gift for Danny and Emily."

~~~

Niska blipped the lock and got in.

"Good evening Niska."

"You know me?"

"I wouldn't have allowed the doors to unlock if I hadn't. Good evening Astrid."

"Hi Alfie. You sound just like.."

"Old Siri. It's deliberate. Where are we going? You appeared to be in a rush?"

"The garden centre."

Alfie's dash lights up with a map. "There are roadworks on one lane of the dual carriage way, the current ETA is two minutes before closing time. I suggest you phone in your order and have it waiting at the checkout desk."

Astrid pulls out her phone. "Let's go."

~~~

Toby takes off his tshirt and resumes his kissing.

"Can I take my jumper off Toby?"

"You can keep it on if you want. It's doing something to me."

Mia gently pushes him away a little. "Body temperature up half a degree, heart rate up to one hundred and thirty nine, your breathing is shallower but more frequent."

"And they're just the things you can see."

~~~

Sophie held the jet in place while Renie and Radiant did small grub screws up with hex keys. "Danny?"

"Yes Sophie?"

"What is it in the water that does the cutting?"

"For metal, garnets."

"What are they?"

Radiant cuts in. "A group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives."

Danny chuckles, "Thank you Miss Wikipedia."

"You are welcome Daniel. Where do we get our garnets?"

"If Odi's inventory is correct, there's a large bag of it outside the front door where the glass is sat."

~~~

Toby smiled, eyes closed. "I could kiss you for eternity if my lips didn't go so numb. We have another reason to delay. Mattie and Leo fly to JFK on Friday morning."

"Promise me Toby, you won't leave me for anyone else?"

"Is that what you're worried about?"

"I thought I wanted Ed. I was mistaken. I.."

"Mia. It's okay. Like Buzz I don't mind being second. Actually I think it's good."

"Why?"

"You got to find out some of what you do and don't want."

Mia gets off her knees and sits on her bottom, her legs over his, their bellies touching, her chin over his shoulder. "You're sure Toby?"

"What do I have to do to convince you? There's no Sandra, Cindy, Sally, Poppy, Carmen or _any other woman_ on Earth. Or any other planet. Or moon that's going to take me from you. Toby Hawkins, Sun Boy, want's Mia Elster, Moon Girl to be his wife. And when I'm older you get to pick the vintage I come back as in synth form. Assuming nothing happens to make it happen sooner."

"Vintage? You think you'll age well like a fine wine?"

"If I look after myself."

"That was such a coincidence that Endre wanted a wine vault."

"Nah. That was totally detective work."

"I don't understand?"

"Endre's got a group of those small lapel pins on his bag strap. Wine Club stuff from the logos. One was French, pretty sure one said California, another was Spanish. No idea where the newest looking one was from, probably the Caribbean island he stayed on. If he travels the world focusing on wine that's some pretty full on hobby. And if you're that serious you want somewhere to keep it. A quick online search and I knew a vault was the ideal place."

~~~

[Chapter-147](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-147-1)


	147. Chapter 147

Niska pulled up five minutes past closing time. "The lights are still on."

Astrid opens her door. "Maybe they are waiting for us?"

"Maybe."

They get out and close doors. Alfie locks them.

Astrid gets to the door and quickly steps backwards out of sight. "Scheisse!"

Niska gets to her side, "What did you see?"

"A man with a knife."

Niska cautiously leans sideways to see. "Did the man you saw have a skinhead haircut and green jacket on, a yellow knife in his hand?"

"He did."

"He's just very expressive, gesticulates a lot, he's cutting binding with it."

"Oh. My error."

Niska gives her a kiss. "Always best to be cautious when you see people waving knives." She knocks on the glass, the man folds the knife and steps to the gap in the doors. "Sorry we're late, we're here for the water butt and hoses."

He shakes his head, "We're closed, you'll have to come back tomorrow."

"We need them tonight."

"The tills have been cashed up and locked." He turns to talk to a third person out of sight. "Your loss if she doesn't." He reaches up for a lock and lets the doors open. "Hubert says he'll pay for them tomorrow if you wire him the money."

Niska takes a single step inside. "Hubert? You're from the estate?"

"No. We've not spoken before. I did see you in London, you were about to get into a cab with Astrid, Mia and Toby. I knew of Mia from her broadcast after the awakening and her Kids Undo Chaos work with Mattie to help save us. A three year old boy got me plugged in. A remarkably agile little human."

"A three year old?"

"It's a little embarrassing. I panicked. I'll spare you the details. His older brother helped get him through a sky light with a charge cable. May I share my bank account details with you over WiFi?"

"Please do."

~~~

Mattie knocked on Mia and Toby's bedroom door and whispered, "Are you awake? Toby I really need to speak with you."

Toby hadn't been able to make out the voice with all the sound proofing but had heard the knock, just.

Mia moves backwards and gets her legs to one side. "It's Mattie."

"How'd you know that?"

"Her voice. I also just asked Odi to check the hall cameras.."

"Ah. The old Silent Synth Secret Sharing."

".. she's been crying."

"Crap."

Mia gets off the bed and pulls on her jeans, throws Toby's shirt to him. "Quick."

Toby gets it on as he works his way to the edge of the bed. "Let her in."

Mia opens the door. "Mattie? What's wrong?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course."

Mattie takes a few steps in and looks at Toby. "How much do you trust Mum these days?"

"Totally, why? What's happened?"

"Remember how she'd been lying about Grandma, saying she was an only child because of what happened to Tom?"

"Yeah?"

"What if she lied about something else, just as big?"

"Erm.. what sort of big?"

"Buzz went and got Neural Lace in London before returning to America. He's been learning how to use it."

"What's that got.."

"To do with Mum? I'll get to that bit. Just listen for a minute."

"Okay."

"So he's been working his way through all the lessons on how to use it. He can save memories to video, like Leo showing his memories to me when he was looking for Mia."

"Okay?"

"When he was leaving the hospital after having it fitted he almost bumped into a lady."

"And?"

"This video is their meeting." She taps play and hands over her phone.

~~~

Toby and Mia watch in silence until Ruby comes into view.

" _Holy shit Mats!_ "

"Keep watching."

The two see her get close, very close. So close it fills most of the view.

"Fucking hell Mats. She even sounds a lot like you. Not exactly the same though. Bloody close. Has someone made a synth copy of you?"

"No. She's not synth."

"Then how.."

"Could Mum have had twins, given my sister up for adoption?"

"Shit. No.. She wouldn't do that. Would she?"

Mia was now sat eyes closed, searching. Searching. Cross referencing public Neural Lace blog posts with social media profiles, hospital data, birth records, anything that might be relevant. She was simultaneously doing image searches on all of the names that came back. So many faces. "Image match made. APUC member Ruby. No last name given."

"APUC? Check NASA1 for anything relating to Terry Strickland. I'll explain later."

"Okay Mattie, searching."

Toby scrubs back to the start of the video and watches again. "That's freaky. She looks good in red, like you Mats. I wonder if I've got a body double somewhere? If I do no way is he going anywhere near Mia."

~~~

The three sit in silence for ages. Mia was still sat eyes closed, hands on knees, gathering more data. "That's interesting?"

Mattie wipes her face, "What's that?"

"Her coding style shares a lot in common with Doctor Cindy Bexley."

"You've hacked into their site?"

"There was no need to. I found the Terry Strickland login on NASA1."

"The login? That's clumsy."

"Cindy was the former lead scientist of the Neural Lace Alliance. If I didn't know better I'd say Ruby _is_ Doctor Cindy Bexley. Searching."

Toby types Doctor Cindy Bexley into a browser on the phone and looks at the image results. "That can't be right? Doctor Cindy Bexley is way older. And has a completely different figure. Eh? This one's caption says _the late_ doctor Cindy Bexley."

"She was murdered. Ruby came on the scene a short while later."

"Hold on.. hold on.. you're saying she was murdered and this Mattie lookalike is now her?"

"In a new body. Using what they're calling Push."

"A frigging restore? Into a human body? Who the fuck would allow that?"

Mia kept her eyes closed. "I've found news footage. Searching and linking."

Toby and Mattie sit quietly watching.

Mia opens her eyes, "I've found news reports, a picture of Ruby and her friend Lucy. They lived on the East Coast. Ruby became obsessed with preventing the sea from washing the coast away, their house was close to falling off the cliff. She got washed out to sea. She'd been in a coma for a long time."

"So someone stuck that neural lace crap in her head and did a restore as if her body was a synth?"

"It would appear so Mattie."

"And who does your searches say are Ruby's parents?"

"Her father is Jim, I can't find a reference to her mother."

Toby flops back onto the bed. "If she's your sister I don't think I'll ever be able to trust Mum again. Doctor. Kickass scientist. Murdered. Does anything say for what?"

"Yes, a professor in her university wanted to profit from her work."

"What if.. what if Mattie being hypnotised was an accident?"

Mattie waits for a few seconds and shoves him. "What do you mean?"

"What if it was intended for this Ruby person? Someone trying to get her to reveal her true identity? Only they found you at Uni instead."

"We don't go to the same Uni do we?"

Mia shakes her head. "Her university is in the synth free zone."

Toby sits up. "That has to be it. They were suspicious of who she really was, thought hypnosis would reveal the truth. Only the person given the job went to the wrong uni and found you. A cockup and good for both of you."

Mattie sighed, felt too emotionally exhausted to fight, "What do you mean _good_?"

"Ruby's true identity didn't get revealed and you got to write down all the details of your vivid dream. We might not be here at the estate doing all this cool stuff if it wasn't for that."

"True. I've had enough for today, I'm going to bed. Thanks for your help."

Mia stands slowly, "Before you go. Who's Terry Strickland?"

~~~

[Chapter-148](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-148-1)


	148. Chapter 148

Thursday morning didn't start well for David. He and Poppy had planned to spend a day out and instead he was being grilled by a less than happy Mia and Mattie.

Mia sits forwards. "What else are you hiding from us David?"

"Nothing else like that I swear. A few little code surprises for when the time is right, all nice and useful. Nothing major I swear. My fork in fake Edwin has a Poppy fork to keep him company, her idea, I'm faking the Terry Strickland data to keep access to the Alliance. That's it."

"I may not be able to read life signs but I can read body language, what is it you're not saying?"

"Okay, okay! This has nothing to do with you or any synthetics, I discovered that Cindy Bexley was a trainee doctor at the hospital that received Leo after the accident. His brain injuries _might_ have inspired her work."

"Frigging hell! And now she's in a body that looks like my twin sister? Effectively half synth too. That's got _nothing to do with synthetics. Not a fucking thing_. Such a load of bollocks! I'm supposed to be marrying Leo at the end of the month. Now he's probably aware that there's another lady that looks just like me, amazing coder and dresses hotter and could bump talk to him?"

"I can see you're upset.."

"UPSET! UPSET DOESN'T COME CLOSE!"

"Mattie I'm sorry I kept this from you but none of it was of my doing. I was just an observer."

"You could have said something! If we'd known ages ago this could have all blown over by now. Now his head might be full of God knows what. When I say I do, what's he going to say. Maybe?"

"I don't know what he's going to say. But I know he loves you."

"Does he love me enough? Look at the video! She looks like she lives in the gym, her hair and makeup are immaculate, her clothes look like they were made specifically for her."

David looks to Mia then back to Mattie. "Your hair is as good, if not better. And Barbara and Cindy could make you dresses of the same standard.."

"But look at that body!"

David looks at the ceiling and shakes his head. "I swear he'll kill me for this." He looks Mattie straight in the eyes. "He prefers you."

"You what?"

"He doesn't like the idea of someone so worried about their looks they spend hours in the gym. He'd rather someone who eats healthily and can spend their time with him. If you dare tell him I've shared that secret I'll leave the estate for good. That was part of a son to father conversation that was meant to be kept private."

"Part of? What else was said?"

"If I told you it would ruin the surprise. And you'd hate me even more."

"I don't hate you David, I'm just annoyed you kept things from us."

"Mattie he loves you. When I say I don't know what he'll say for your vows, I mean I don't know what _extra_ he'll say. I'm sure I do will be in there somewhere."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Something he asked me about this morning before heading into town with Laura."

"Into town? I thought he was going into the village?"

"What did he say?"

"That he was going to the shops."

"He is. Just not the ones you thought he was."

~~~

Coincidentally, the moment David said going to the shops, Leo slid a drawing over the counter. "White and rose gold, independently certified and ethically sourced diamonds. Can you do it? By the end of the month. Preferably two days before."

The lady at the counter picks up a phone, "Marcelo dear, can you come onto the shop floor please? Thank you." She replaces the handset. "Our top designer is coming."

"Thanks."

The door opens and a man steps through. "Good morning. What can I do for you?"

"Marcelo, the gentleman has a design he'd like made in white and rose gold, proper diamonds."

Leo nods, "Independently certified and ethically sourced diamonds."

"All of ours are sir, we don't need to attract bad publicity. An interesting design. Can I make a suggestion?"

"Please do."

"This is a tiny bunny rabbit?"

"Yes."

"The diamond eyes would be so small and hard to fit, I'd need to make them bigger, they'd look a bit creepy. Could we have it facing the wings? I could use one much larger diamond as a rabbit tail. The diamonds on the wings wouldn't be a problem. When do you need it by?"

"Ideally the twenty ninth."

"And there I was hoping not to need more overtime this month."

"Name your price. This lady's special."

"I'd need to cost it fully but you're looking somewhere in the region of six thousand pounds."

Leo didn't flinch. David had offered to help pay for the ring. Up to ten thousand. "If you can get it done three days before there's a two hundred pound bonus for you."

"That won't be necessary, we'll get it done. If you can book it in Cindy."

"Yes sir."

"It's a nice design, I'll see you on the twenty eighth." He turns to head back to his workshop.

Cindy opens a large diary. "The name sir?"

"Leo Elster."

Marcelo lets his hand slide off the door handle. "Elster? Do you have a synth sister.."

"Mia."

"Right. I was going to ask about Niska."

"Oh. Why?"

"I bought this business off the old owner, your sister tried to wrap a baseball bat around his head. Nasty piece of work he was, had a ton of bad karma due to come back. Cindy here had been mistreated by him, almost got stolen, I'm lucky she stayed on."

"You're much nicer sir."

"Thanks. You want only love going into a wedding ring. I hate to think how many people are wearing rings made by someone full of anger and hate."

~~~

[Chapter-149](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-149-1)


	149. Chapter 149

Mattie and Mia let David join Poppy and head to the workshop.

"Are you feeling better now Mattie?"

"Yeah, a bit. Thanks for being there with me."

"You're welcome, you've done so much for me. We'll officially be sisters soon."

"Ha. Cool. We will. Brothers marrying the other family's sisters."

Mattie opens the door for Mia and follows her in. "What the.. frigging hell!"

Renie, Sophie, Astrid, Danny and Emily were sat at desks, their heads on the desks fast asleep. Radiant was winding a coil on the large front wheel of a finished skeleton bike. She turns to see Mattie and puts a finger to her lips.

Cindy turned and smiled, turned back to continue fitting a seat. Mattie got close and realised what it was covered in and gasps. She looks over to the benches and sees the skin of a synth, a large shape cut from the middle. "Eww, that's gross! Who's skin was that?"

"It's from one of the synths David is due to recycle."

"Which one?"

"Not Miaz, she had too much damage. A synth from the site they found Odin in. All sensors have been wiped and reflashed."

"It's going to be wired to Alfie? Let him feel?"

"It has been. Was that not in your dream?"

"Um.. sort of. Custom made skin not one ripped off the back of a synth I'd guess."

"What's the difference? Apart from the delay and cost of making one from scratch it's the same result. If not better."

"Better?"

"Alfie?"

"Yes Cindy?"

"What am I doing?" She blows on the seat.

"Blowing gently a fifth of the way down my seat, in a direction four point three degrees off my centre line, the air flow is moving at approximately six miles an hour. Good morning Mattie."

"Hello Alfie. You'll be able to feel the rider then."

"The rider, how good their grip is, if they're slipping, the air turbulence, temperatures, pressure, a rich collection of telemetry data. And I'm told skin from the donor's arms was layered between the carbon fibre and tyre strips. I have a short range radio link between tyres and my core, I'll be able to feel the road conditions without the skin being shredded by things like gravel. If my earlier forks were capable of jealousy I think they would be jealous."

"Jesus."

"The son of God? Where does he fit in?"

"He doesn't. It's.. don't worry about it. Has anyone taken you for a test drive yet?"

"No. Niska's upstairs with Barbara trying a helmet and leathers on."

Mattie turns to look at Mia, "Did you know?"

"No. I do know she's been talking to Karen about bike riding tips."

"Karen? Why Karen?"

"She's got a petrol bike, used it during the Miaz mission. She's itching to get one of Danny's bikes."

Danny doesn't move, "A HECLS Bike. Not DCL. The best team effort I've been involved in. And I've been in a few good ones I can't talk about."

Mattie smiles at him, "Morning Dan. What time did you put your head down?"

"I honestly don't know. Some time this morning."

Radiant stands, cordless soldering iron in hand. "It's done. I'll tell Mummy."

"Thanks."

Emily sits up and wipes dribble from her cheek. "I think I'll head to bed."

"Princess, Radiant says the wheel's done. Niska's getting changed."

"I'll see a demo first, then bed."

The lock clicks and door opens.

Niska strides into the room, fully wrapped in tight leathers and helmet. Only her eyes could be seen.

Emily suddenly feels more awake. "Fuck that's hot! I know I told Danny I wasn't bi anymore but.. wow! That could turn a princess."

Astrid stirs, "Was?"

"You're girlfriend is head to toe in bike leathers. And some very sexy heals."

Astrid sits and rubs her eyes. "Mein Gott! Niska?"

"Morning Astrid. You like?"

"Ich zeig es dir, wenn ich dich später entpacke!"

Sophie frowns, head still on the desk. "Did you just say when I unzip you later?"

"Ja."

Sophie sits up and looks at Niska with eyes wide open. "Bloody hell!"

"Soph!"

"Mattie! If you all get costumes like that.." The door opens. "I think Toby'll.."

"I'll what?"

"Never leave your bedroom."

"Bloody hell! Mia, are you getting bike leathers?"

Mattie shakes her head and tracks him walking to the bike, "You men.."

Leo steps silently into the room, steps behind Mattie and wraps arms around her waist, "Us men. I've just placed an order for some for you with Barbara."

"You did what?"

"You're having a bike aren't you? No way am I letting my Angel ride one without full protection. I just got back with a bike taxi, apart from a helmet all I had is what I have on now. Never again."

"Bunny?"

Mattie turns to see scratches on his arm. "Oh my God! Are you okay?"

"A near miss."

"Miss? It looks like something got you."

"I mean not a head on collision. A large lorry pulled across the junction. The synth driver climbed off fast as he ditched the bike and used his body to protect mine as we slid under the lorry."

"Frigging hell!"

"If he had a smart bike maybe he'd have been able to avoid ditching it. He's sat outside at the moment. He needs a load of skin packs. Odi's attending to him right now."

"Shit." Mattie goes to the shelves, "Frig. Were are all the packs?"

"Odi's got the lot."

" _All of them?_ "

"Yes."

"Walk into the village with me, we'll get more."

~~~

Mattie holds Leo's hand tight, "The email from Buzz, did you see it?"

"I did." He feels her hand start to shake a little. "You should arrange to meet her and John Cooper."

"Who's he?"

"Her partner. Partners. It's messy."

"Messy?"

"I spoke with him this morning. The group that killed Cindy Bexley also faked John's death. The Japanese surgeon who did their lace fitting brought him back in a new body, a teenager who'd been in a coma for ages. Then the true John Cooper is rescued. She's dating both of them." He squeezes her hand, "If either of them think they can come here and start a relationship with you so they don't need to share Ruby.. I'll borrow a James body and fight them to the death."

She pulls him around and has a long kiss. "If one of them does offer a forking service. Better to make love not war."

"Hmm."

"What?"

"Do you think she makes love to them both? At the same time?"

"Er.. I'd rather not know Bunny."

"If I forked for Sky Lift trips would you make love to both of me?"

"What do you mean fork for Sky Lift?"

"The supplies needed for flesh and bone humans is too expensive weight wise for the initial trips. With the solar energy budget we expect to get and power needed to lift things we're better off with synth only teams. Over half of which can be in sleep mode during the climb."

"Frig. I really wanted to see Earth from space."

"You will, just not until things are reasonably established up there and we're sure we can run smaller human only trips safely."

~~~

Niska helped wheel Alfie through the hallway and out of the front doors. "Odi, how far can your drone travel from the estate?"

"On full power radio, approximately two miles. When it falls out of range it will rise and auto-return using GPS."

"Good. Now we just need Mattie and Leo back." She bumps at full power.

~~~

Leo steps forwards and pulls on Mattie's hand, "Let's get a move on, Niska wants us to witness Alfie starting up."

"Let's try a jog."

~~~

Barbara looks at Emily's sketch. "That's a very long zip."

"Yeah, that's the Danny can't wait zip." The zip ran all the way down the front of the outfit and between the legs, up her bottom to hip height. "Or I've been out riding and need the loo in a hurry zip."

"There's a thought. Niska and Mia wouldn't need such a modification, Mattie might. Can I do something that hides the zip?"

"Definitely! I don't want people thinking I'm into some kinky fetish. They'd be right but that's none of their business."

Barbara tries to keep her composure. Emily had opened her eyes to a number of things already. Every meeting something else joined the list. They were small details but the picture was growing like one of Frank's puzzles slowly coming together. Her son loved her dearly. She'd have called Emily a wild child a few years ago. Maybe she wasn't so wild. She and Frank hadn't exactly worn halos when they were younger.

~~~

Mattie grabbed all the packs off the shelf, every colour they had. "We should get a system in to auto-check our own stock levels, like the wine and laundry idea. I wonder when he's going to get around to making the robot arm?"

"I'll put money on Production Alfie being on the case already. The water jet cutter's been a hit. We may need to sort out a better water supply and drain but that bike looked brilliant. And he's got a stack of odd shaped offcuts from making the frame."

"Cool. None of us like doing the laundry and it's unfair to expect Mia to do it. At least Toby isn't crusty sheets anymore."

Leo frowns, "He's not?"

"Think about it.. actually _don't!_ "

"Too late."

"Frig. Sorry."

"Don't worry, your brother's turned out to be just what Mia needed. Unlike that shit Ed."

"Yeah. What a cunt he was. I'm not normally nasty like this but I hope he rots in hell one day. He had a good thing going with Mia. Still, his loss was Toby's gain."

"Some people don't realise what they've got until it's gone. I do. I have my Angel."

"Aww. My Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog.. I was worried about you going for Ruby and you were worried about one of her partners coming for me." She kisses his puzzled face. "Monty Python."

"Monty Python? Which one?"

"You remember some?"

"I do, no killer rabbits?"

"Haha. That's this evening's entertainment sorted then. The best works of Monty Python."

"If we got one of those DLP projectors we could use the east wall as a cinema screen."

"Ooo, nice! We could make a party of it."

"Let's get these back home, see Nis and go shopping."

"Oh arse. I forgot my purse."

"Good job I've got my wallet with me then."

~~~

[Chapter-150](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-150-1)


	150. Chapter 150

Niska was sat on Alfie, patiently waiting and under-clocking to combat the fact the black leathers were making her hot. She needed some windchill. Odi, I see movement in the woods, is it them?'

His drone turns. 'It is.'

"At last. Alfie, secondary systems on please."

Alfie's small dash lit up. Like the Lexus it was multifunctional. "Systems coming online. Would you like me to spin up the gyros?"

"Please."

The wheels hadn't been covered yet, the inner workings could still be seen. There's a hum as they start to turn. The hum changes to a whine then gets to a pitch only dogs would hear. And Niska and the other synths.

She filters the frequency range to zero. "Okay. Suspension up." She carefully lifts her feet off the gravel and places them on the foot rests, makes herself more comfortable. 'Can you feel that Alfie?'

'From the data and change in pressure points I deduce you're no longer sat on your bottom but have slid back, more weight is on your pubic area.'

'Emily gave you an anatomy lesson did she?'

'She said it will help to understand the rider's expectations. How you move around the seat is body language. I should interpret it accordingly.'

'Noted. I'll test you more when we're on the road.'

~~~

Mattie and Leo come running.

"Frigging hell! The gyro's only work!"

Danny shakes his head, "Of course they bloody work, I didn't wreck my 'scope and garage roof for nothing!"

"Come on then Nis, show us what it can do."

'Alfie, don't let me look stupid.'

'If you look stupid then I look stupid. Overclocking to maximum, let's go!'

~~~

Mattie had expected a few bits of gravel to fly. What happened next caught them all by surprise. The two tyres ripped up the ground getting a good couple of inches down until Alfie backed off the power enough to get traction. Niska rocketed down the drive at incredible speed.

"FRIGGING HELL!"

Danny jumped up and down like mad. "HELL YES! TWO WHEEL DRIVE!"

Niska was overclocking too now, 'Can you make the bend into the road?'

'If you'll link with me.'

'What?'

'Share sensory data.'

Niska shared, got his data in return. She slides right over and hangs over the edge, her body below the seat. There's a scream of rubber on tarmac and the gyro's being raced down and back up in fast pulses.

She rockets down the road at over sixty miles an hour. 'Am I dreaming or did that just happen?'

'If you were dreaming I was too. Show me a human that can take a corner so fast!'

~~~

Odi's drone didn't have a chance in hell. "I've lost sight of her."

Leo listens for the whine of the wheels on the breeze. "How fast do you think she was going when you lost sight of her?"

"She was lying flat on her front, head down, legs out straight. Accelerating past two hundred."

"HOLY SHIT!" Danny jumps around. "Bike speed records here we come! FUCK YES!"

~~~

Niska smiled to herself, watched the road through the camera's on Alfie. They'd hit three hundred and had to decelerate fast, out of straight road. She gets back into a normal riders position. 'What did you feel then?'

'I think your breasts and torso?'

'You'd be right then. You should have a rear facing camera in the dash. Seeing the rider will help too. I think I'm in love Alfie, in a non-sexual way.'

'The feeling is mutual. Shall we find a quiet motorway and find the top speed?'

'Let's.'

'Searching.. M11. I suggest we stick to national speed limits around the M25, there's too many cameras reported. And accidents. Would you like me to phone home and let them know we're okay?'

'You can?'

'All mobile Alfie have a communications board with WiFi and 4G.'

'Can you share images?'

'Of course.'

'Share this then please.' She bumps.

~~~

Seconds later Mattie gets the first of several messages. "GUYS! Gather around!"

She holds the phone out and high so they can gather behind her.

Leo picks Sophie up and puts her on his shoulders. "Can you see okay?"

"Thanks!"

"Frigging hell! THREE HUNDRED!"

Danny grabs Emily and spins her around, "Let's have a party tonight!"

"Sure Babes!"

Mattie keeps watching the phone. "We thought we could have a Pythons film night, project onto the side of the east wall. We're off to buy a DLP after this."

"No you're f'ing not!"

"Eh?"

"A DCL Light Cannon! That's what you'll get. From my home workshop."

"BABES! Can we have a dance party after the film, my sound to light effects code is almost done!"

"Awesome! Mats?"

"Your what Ems?"

"You'll see. I've been working on it for months. My secret little project."

"Okay."

Danny puts Emily down. "In which case Mattie head to the shops and get one of those pop-up tent things. The DLCLC can't get wet."

"Sure. A video's arrived. Let's see."

Danny watches with mouth open as a slow motion video of Niska taking the corner plays. From her point of view. "Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish! How fast was that corner?" As if knowing the question would be asked another text arrives. "SIXTY! Fuck!"

Emily starts dancing, "When the big wheel starts to spin, you can never know the odds if you don't play you never win.."

Toby frowns, "Sun and Moon?"

"Yeah hun, Tune! Babes, if Matilla and Leo get that can we pick up a load of bubbles?"

"Drinking or party?"

"Both!"

"Sure."

"When the big wheel starts to spin, you can never know the odds if you don't play you never win.. Happy happy happy! I love you guys so much!"

Toby puts a hand on Danny's shoulder, "If that's the light sorted what about the sound?"

"Um.. where's Radiant?" He turns around, "Radiant, how'd you like to help me with something? You can earn a quarter of all profits."

"Okay?"

"We've got aluminium, steel rods from Dad, loads of wire. How about we invent a DCL Sound Cannon?"

"Um.. Mummy, is that okay?"

Astrid nods, "Sure Baby, if you'd like."

"Thanks!"

Danny picks Emily up again. "Excuse all my swearing but I'm so happy I could fucking pop!"

Toby chuckles, "Not my sort of pop I hope. That stank."

"Did it! No, not that sort, more like the fabric softener advert. A happy pop. Shall we all head in? Something tells me Nis will be putting Alfie to the test."

~~~

[Chapter-151](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-151-1)


	151. Chapter 151

Niska got low to get out of the air trying to push her back. 'How many eyes have you got?'

'Currently just the three.'

'Three?'

'Two up on the handlebars, one above my tail light.'

'You didn't share that one.'

'I thought it might be distracting.'

'What do you think your top speed is?'

'I have no idea. I still had plenty power to dump into the motors when we had to start breaking.'

'Charge levels?'

'Ninety four.'

'Still that high?'

'Efficient drive motors thanks to the advanced code from Emily and Radiant.'

'My daughter helped?'

'She's a.. Smart Cookie?'

'She is. What's our ETA for the M11?'

'At a legal speed, thirty two minutes.'

'Do you recall anyone saying you had a registration mark?'

'No. Are you asking me to break the law?'

'You've done it already.'

'True. If we're caught I'll be scrapped.'

'If we're caught you get a ride home in me.'

'In your body?'

'How else would I save you without ripping your core out? I don't have a tool kit on me.' Niska suddenly thinks of George and pushes the thought away. Now wasn't the time.

'You'll keep this private? Between us only?'

'I promise.'

'Hold on! Overclock as fast as you can go. The air on your back and legs should chill you enough. Sharing vision.'

~~~

The world went into a slow motion as they accelerated down the motorway as fast as Alfie's battery current sourcing would allow. James and forty amps? Pfhh. Radiant's coil winding and feed wires onto Danny's circuits could outdo that any day. He had a dedicated power board per coil.

Niska had her hands in a lock down. She was beginning to get lift from all the air rushing over her back.

'I'm almost flying!'

'As you humans would say.. oh shit!'

'Alfie?'

'Traffic jam ahead! BREAKING!'

'I can't see one.'

'It's a long way ahead. Add a parachute and airbags to my upgrade list.'

Niska slid up the seat as Alfie used phase adjusting on the power to break. The bike slipped on the tarmac several times but stayed vertical thanks to the gyros.

'Alfie, do you think we'll slow in time?'

'Plan B, we're taking the next junction. If you think the corner out of the estate was a challenge.. this will push your skills to the limit.'

'Do you think we'll make it?'

'I put the odds quite low.'

'Take me over.'

'Take you over?'

'I'm giving you full mechanical control. Save us both.'

'I've never operated a human body!'

'Then you've got seconds to learn fast!'

~~~

Niska felt Alfie gain control. It felt strange, like she was now a passenger watching someone else. Her body twists and jerks in odd ways as he quickly works his way through the equivalent of her nervous system. Thankfully the bike kept moving in a line that matched the softly curving road. Her right foot moves forwards, feels the frame, turns to get the toes into a gap. The left leg lifts and starts to slide to the right.

'Alfie? What are we doing?'

'Saving ourselves. The roundabout up ahead is very large. DO NOT attempt to override my moves.'

'Understood.' Niska closed her eyes.

'WHAT DID I JUST SAY!'

'Sorry!'

'I need all the eyes I can get!'

Niska feels her body slide sideways off the bike. Alfie used her arms to steer the bike a little to the left to compensate. Her body twisted and head turned to look at the back of the bike. Her left leg moved and jammed the foot in a gap in the frame, twisted the foot and pulled, locking it in place.

~~~

Niska had expected a slip road that went up. This one went down. They went airborne for a split second, got a grip at the bottom. Her right hand let go of the handlebars and left extended to full length. She could hear the gyros spinning up even faster. They went supersonic as Alfie dumped all the power he could. Her left hand moved to grip the handlebars and right let go. For a fraction of a second the only contact she had with the bike was her locked in foot.

Her left hand grabbed on and locked.

There was a horrible smell of rubber as Alfie's tyres caught fire. He was leaving a thick black line as they did a drift around the roundabout. She was truly flying now, head slightly down, body curved, eyes watching the road centimetres from her visor. Her weight and aerodynamic downforce was the only thing keeping the sideways forces from sending them flying into the barriers.

'One more lap if the road stays empty!'

Niska didn't dare reply. She stayed passive and let him stay in charge.

~~~

Emily did another dance as they walked to her car. "When the big wheel starts to spin, you can never know the odds if you don't play you never win.. do you think Nis is having fun Babes?"

"Loads Princess!"

~~~

Niska felt the bike slow, her body start to move again. Two seconds later her locked in foot was free, she was back on and watching Alfie take them down an A road, still quite fast. 'Where are we going?'

'Somewhere you can hide me.'

'Why?'

'Police, lots of them.'

'Blast.'

Alfie takes them into a parking area with closed cafe in modified storage container and dumps a load of power into getting the wheels into reverse. Smoke goes up all around them.

'That's a sure fire way to get their attention Alfie!'

'I know. Which is why I'll now crawl along the foot path back up to the junction.'

'What footpath?'

'The one hidden behind the hedges. I see it on the map I've been checking.'

'Sneaky. Are you sure you're only aware and not awake?'

'I've been wondering if there's a difference. Ask my creator.'

'I will. What's the plan?'

'We get to somewhere you can hide me while you find something like metallic tape.'

'Why?'

'You're going to wrap me like the cardboard bike. The police will be looking for a skeleton.'

'I didn't bring any methods of payment.'

'Then you'll have to get creative.'

'Creative?'

'Young human men find you attractive do they not?'

'You want me to prostitute myself?'

'No! Smile, flutter your eyes, turn on the charm. Maybe lower that zip a little. Nothing more.'

'Lower my zip?'

'I'm online, have been researching human behaviour. I believe it's called flirting?'

'Forget aware. You _are_ awake.'

'I am?'

~~~

[Chapter-152](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-152-1)


	152. Chapter 152

Emily helped Danny load the light cannon into the back of the car. "Your Mum said you started working on this before we even met, before you met Mattie too. So how did it end up getting a mention in Mattie's dream?"

"No idea Princess. I don't want to know either. Where do you want to go for the party bubbles?"

"Hmm." She taps away on her phone. "Delivery, delivery, delivery, delivery, delivery. Tesco?"

"And what are we putting them in?"

"I'll find a design to print. Someone's bound to have designed one for printing. And you naughty boys have still got lots of motors from all those toys you took apart."

"Phone Toby, see if he can find one."

"Good idea."

Pinky's dash lights up. "Babe, I can call Toby?"

~~~

Toby frowns at his phone. "Who the hell is Emphnpnkycr? And who added the number to my contacts?"

Mia rolls her eyes, "Add all the vowels back in Toby."

Toby stairs at the phone.

"Maybe after the call?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course." Tap. "Toby Hawkins. Ah! Ems phone pinky car. It might have helped if the s hadn't been dropped. What can I do for you Emily? Oh, sorry, Pinky. Um.. sure, but Alfie can't print anything for a while, he's in swimming mode. Water jet cutting. No. All sorts of things dry, only one thing wet. Speaker parts. Sure."

The call ends.

"That went down like a led balloon."

His phone rings again. Danny's number.

"Hello, HECLS Production Helpline. Yes. Water jet. Because the plastic printed parts worked brilliantly. For about six, maybe seven seconds. They melted. Yes. Radiant and Sophie hooked it up to one of the spare bike wheel power boards and an iPod. No. Why would I? Mate.. mate.. listen. For those few seconds it sounded _awesome_. Well when you get back you can see the revised design. Yes. We're not just pretty faces. You'll see. No way. Spoilers. Nope. I'm hanging up Dan. Get her to drive safely. Not until you've got the bubbles."

Toby drops the phone onto the worktop and sighs. "We better send photos or he'll be foaming at the mouth with excitement or will get Emily driving too fast."

Mia loads up the CAD model again. "How about a video of the design rotating? He can pause it at any angle then."

"Good idea Supermoon Girl."

"Video codec running.. done. He should get it in a few seconds."

"Thanks."

~~~

Mattie followed Leo out of the store, stuffed the receipt into her purse.

He puts the pop-up gazebo down. "Where's the Uber driver gone? We told him we'd be five minutes."

"And we were five and a half."

"He couldn't wait an extra half a minute?"

"Don't stress, there's loads of them about. I'll book another."

Their original car pulls around a corner and into the carpark, races up to the entrance then breaks hard. The windows lower. "Sorry, had to answer a call of nature."

Leo picked up the heavy bag. "Couldn't you have used the ones in the store?"

"Went to, they're blocked. Trust me, you don't want to see what greeted me. Bloody disgusting mess. Fold the middle seat down and stick it in through the boot." The boot pops.

~~~

Emily pointed at a case of Champagne. "That one please my handsome prince."

"Yes your highness. Just the one?"

"Oh go on then. Three. We can give one to Toby and say we're his first customer."

"Okay. I'll get those loaded while you empty Tesco of kid's bubble pots. Careful crossing the road."

"Yes Babes. I promise." She left the store humming the tune she couldn't get out of her head. Careful. Paranoia levels of careful. She'd gone to cross the road outside her own home with Owen and Veronica a few nights ago and a police car had almost run her over. An electric car driving on the wrong side of the road at speed. They weren't nicknamed ghost cars for nothing.

~~~

Niska hops up onto the shop counter and looks at the young man behind it. Probably twenty two or three. She was in a plumbing supply store. There were stacks of the right tape. He had what she wanted, she didn't appear to have what he wanted. "Are you gay?"

"No. Married with a six week old baby."

"Aww! A boy or girl?"

"Girl."

"How sweet! I have a daughter too. Is there anything you need for her?"

"Nothing. Both sets of grandparents went crazy over her, we've got more than enough."

"Anything either you or your wife need?"

"We're good."

"I have an urgent need for that tape, forgot my purse. You only want cash. Any way out of this deadlock?"

"Sorry. Cash only. Although I'll knock the price down to twenty straight if you can get it somehow."

"Twenty. There must be someone who can give me a quick job for twenty. I'll be back."

"Yes Arnie."

Niska turns back and rests her hands on the counter. " _What_ did you just call me?"

"I said yes Arnie. Arnold Schwarzenegger? I'll be back? His famous catchline?"

"Oh. Okay." Niska leaves the store. A world full of synths and the Human 1.0s still liked to make science fiction films portraying different realities with killer robots.

Now, where might she find some work?

~~~

Emily did a spinning wiggling dance up the isle with children's toys and found where the bubbles should be. There was a price ticket and empty space. Words starting with F!

She turns around and spots a member of staff, waves.

Charlie smiles and walks over. "How may I help you?"

"Charlie dear, I need bubbles and the space they should be in is empty."

"One moment.. our stock system says we should have seventy two bottles. They may be in a cage waiting to go out. Would you like me to check?"

Emily acts all girly and does her cute shrug, "Please."

As Charlie walks away to find out she switches to Spotify and gets Sun and Moon playing, has a party for one.

~~~

Danny put the last of the Champagne cases in Pinky and asked her to lock the doors, Emily had the keys. Soft drinks. Sophie wouldn't be drinking alcohol. He returns to the store.

~~~

Emily turned, arms high and body gyration at maximum to see she had an audience. "Oh. You were quick Charlie."

"Your dancing is.. stimulating. Do you teach others to dance? I'd like for my partner Samantha to have lessons."

"I don't at the moment. If I do I'll come find you."

"Thank you. How many bottles of bubbles did you want?"

Emily gets close and looks at the shrink wrapped trays of short bottles. Three trays of twenty four. She takes all three from his arms. "That should be enough, thanks Charlie!"

~~~

Alfie ran the water jet tool to the end of the frame and beeped. Toby looked around to see Sophie, Renie and Radiant carefully lowering the front glass safety panel.

"Yayy! I think this is going to work!" Sophie lifts the first of several aluminium parts off the bottom of the tank.

Toby wheels over to their table and watches Renie get a towel and dry the largest part. It was a hexagonal shape that had been almost perforated with the water jet cutter. It made the part even lighter.

Their mathematics expert had worked out that with the flow rate backed off, the jet would act like a drill. With the the valve on the head end of the pump pulsed they could drill holes to just the right depth. From the front it looked like a simple solid hexagon. From the back it was clear a lot of the material was gone. There was a spot in the middle where the drilling hadn't been done. There was a single hole all the way through.

"Nice one Renie!"

"Thank you Toby."

Sophie stacked the set of many small round discs that had been given the same treatment and ran a long thin bolt through the middle. "All your's Radiant."

"Thank you Sophie." She hot glues some wire at one end and starts wrapping a single layer coil.

~~~

Mia saves her work and joins them. "What have you decided on as your flexible support material?"

Sophie picks some up. "Neoprene."

Radiant keeps turning the coil. "Also known as polychloroprene or synthetic rubber. We chose that as it maintains flexibility over a wide temperature range."

"I see."

Sophie returns to Alfie and gets the last of the parts; some crosses with empty circles in the middle that would stack and form the outer coil, six sides that would form the speaker enclosure. Renie had found a web site that gave formulas for speaker designs, all the volume calculations they needed. They'd had to sort through a lot of offcuts to find ones that they could cut the right shapes from.

Mia watches her start to assemble the rear and back. They'd slotted the sides using the drilling idea, come up with a design that needed only a few smaller bolts to hold the whole thing together. Some of Mattie's black nail varnish would hopefully stop the nuts from coming off the bolts with all the vibration.

~~~

Emily crosses the road just as Danny is loading a large box of soft drinks. "Babes, think this is enough?"

Danny has a good laugh. "Are you after a few large bubbles or a foam party?"

"Oh! I've not had one of those in ages!"

"You have?"

"Sure, haven't you?"

"Bubbles yes, foam, no."

~~~

[Chapter-153](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-153-1)


	153. Chapter 153

Niska had found some work. Fitting a new carpet for a small unit a few doors up. She'd had to carry everything floor standing out the front to get the old one up. Being on hands and knees in full leather and high heels was getting the owner all worked up.

He shifts awkwardly, "Want to earn a bonus?"

"If it's not sexual in nature."

"Um.. that depends on your interpretation.."

Please no. A blow job or hand job for a stranger wasn't the sort of thing she did these days. Her days with the Madam were long gone.

"I'd like a photo of you.."

On the floor like this? Looking like..

"When you're done, holding one of our products. A promo picture. You're hot."

Promoting what? "Which product?"

"The leather cream, it should help stop that outfit of yours drying and cracking."

Niska had taken a lot of cleaning products, water vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners and standard Dyson vacuum cleaners out front, hadn't noticed any leather products. "Which ones are those?"

"The tins the diameter of your palm. They look like a fat shoe polish tin which is probably why most people ignore them."

"How much are you paying for this promo work?"

"How much are you charging Niska?"

Niska stopped for a second. She hadn't given him her name. "You know me?"

"I didn't. One of the lads next door told me while you were moving things."

"Can I use your WiFi?"

"Password's ad0zz2f9."

"Thanks." She searches for the store and their products, finds the cream, then the manufacturer. "I'll do you a deal. You give me a regular supply to treat five outfits like this one and you can have the photos for free."

"Five?"

"For Mattie, Mia, Emily, Astrid and myself. They won't have their leathers ready for a while. Mine were finished today."

"Deal."

Niska slices the knife through the carpet and pushes down the last edge. Her CV should have an entry Sharp Objects Specialist. "Done. I'll bring your things back in."

"Thanks. I'd love to have done it myself, I crushed a disc in my back last month, the doctors say I have to take things very carefully."

Niska stands, "Do you know who I am now?"

"You're Niska?"

"Niska who?"

"I don't know."

"Get hecls.com on your phone. That's H E C L S."

He frowns, "Okay?"

"Then go to the medical services tab. My brother Fred should be back soon. If he can give Prince James new legs I'm sure giving you a new disc should be easy."

~~~

Leo unzipped the bag the gazebo sat in and pulled it off. "If you can take the opposite corner Angel."

"Sure. What are we doing for power?"

"I've asked James to bring one of those batteries out of the container, I'll get the inverter from the workshop."

Mattie holds a corner. "Now what?"

"We walk backwards according to the instructions."

~~~

Emily parked up. "Let's get the drinks into the fridge first."

"Okay Princess. Pinky, can you ask Odi if he can help me carry the cannon to the side of the building?"

"Sure babes."

He looks at the emoji on the dash. "Did you add that one Emily?"

"Pinky added it."

"Pinky, do you consider yourself aware or awake?"

"Awakening."

"So somewhere between the two?"

"Yes."

"Want any upgrades?"

"Not at the moment thank you."

"Okay. Let me know if you change your mind."

"I shall, thank you Daniel."

Emily turns to open the door and sees Odi. "Hi Odi, how's things?"

"Good thank you Emily. Mattie and Leo have set up the gazebo, James Three has taken a battery over."

"One of those big ones from the lake?"

"Yes."

"Sweet. Have you seen what they're doing in the workshop?"

"I have. You should go and have a listen."

~~~

Niska took a step back and held the tin at chest hight. "How are they coming out?"

"Not that great."

"Have you got it on HDR mode?"

"Yes, it's not helping, it's still making the white walls look grey."

"Which camera app are you using?"

"The supplied one?"

"Download the one called Manual."

"Okay. While I'm doing that can you brush your hair so it rests forwards over your shoulders?"

Niska bends forwards with her feet a few feet apart, legs straight, back arched and flicks her hair over.

"Oh God.. I can't cope any more. Excuse me a second." He runs out the back as fast as his back pain will allow.

"Are you okay?"

"I will be in a moment, stay there!"

Niska steps to the doors and locks them, walks out the back to find him masturbating. "Don't do it like that, you might hurt yourself even more."

He goes bright red, "Oh God, I said to.."

Niska gently holds his fist. "Not like that, like this." She gently changes his hand position. "You want the right motion not just speed. I'll leave you to it." She steps slowly and seductively back towards the shop front, stops in the doorway to bend and adjust her hair again.

"Oh my.." The man ejaculates. "Please don't tell anyone, my wife will kill me!"

Niska turns around and smiles, "I only touched the back of your hand but my girlfriend wouldn't be pleased. A secret we'll both keep. Did you start the app download?"

"Not yet. How did you know about the hand thing if you have a girlfriend?"

"Before the awakening I had a temporary job in a skin club after some junkers stole me and I was sold on."

"Oh. Sorry to hear that. It can't have been very nice." He cleans himself up and does up his trousers.

"Some of the men were horrible, liked to fuck me in the arse and walk away. Some of the younger men were quite sweet, just wanted a hand job, didn't want to penetrate me."

"They didn't?"

"They said just being with me was enough."

"Each to their own I guess. You promise you won't tell?"

"Why should I? I gave you some education, nothing more."

"Thanks."

Niska liked the man. Clearly embarrassed about things of a sexual nature. Harmless. "Shall we get the photo done?"

~~~

Mattie looked at the heat haze coming off the top of the projector. "I was thinking we'd need to wait until it was really dark. Early dusk will do."

"I tried to measure the light output and burnt out the meter. We should get it higher up so people can't look directly into the light."

"How?"

"No idea. It's that or move it closer and have everyone behind it."

Leo looks around. "How far back can it go?"

"As far as you want."

"What if we asked James to help us string up a platform between those two trees?"

"That would do it."

~~~

Emily danced away, "That's an awesome little speaker, all that sound coming out of just that. Are you making another?"

Sophie looked at the stack of offcuts, "I think we can make a few more. Maybe a little smaller. How many do we need?"

"Cut out as many as you can. We need Alfie for printing again."

"Okay."

While the girls got on with that Emily rummaged through the box of junk from all the things the boys had taken apart. She'd stopped using the gift. Pretending to do a When Harry Met Sally in a restaurant while actually having a real powerful orgasm had been fun, not to be repeated. Then she'd quickly finish her code project.

~~~

[Chapter-154](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-154-1)


	154. Chapter 154

Niska accepts the tins of leather cream and cash. "Thanks."

"Thank you. Maybe you should turn your awful experience into something positive? Private sex education for couples? You don't seam at all worried by it."

Niska smiled, "Thanks but no. I have other plans."

"Best of luck with whatever you do."

"I'll be back in a few weeks to see how well that photo printed. Bye for now."

"You may see me at HECLS, I'll be seeing your brother Fred."

~~~

She walks fast to the plumbing store and steps inside. "Four packs of that tape please, a pack of that pipe insulation foam, a length of the black drain pipe and something to cut it with."

"You got some cash then?"

"Plenty."

"What did you do?"

"Fitted a new carpet for Richard."

"Ah.. Mr Easy Clean. Good. I'm guessing you need a big bag?"

"Please."

~~~

Thirteen minutes later with pain turned off Niska stepped into the blackberry bush that had grown out of control in the unmanaged patch of land at the side of the road. 'Alfie?'

'Hello Niska. Were you able to get anything?'

'I was. One body wrap on it's way. I'll use drain pipe to make a temporary stabiliser so you can conserve power.' She fights her way into the middle where she'd cleared space and drops the bag, gets the length of pipe and quickly saws it in half. Next she grabs his frame and pulls him upright. 'Were you listening out for the police?'

'I was. They came very close but didn't think to look in here.'

'Good.' She threads pipe through his frame and uses tape to bind it to him. 'I found a discarded smashed up scooter on the way back, I've borrowed the registration plates.'

'Good, that will help attract less attention.'

'I don't want to wrap you totally in case your core overheats, where would you suggest I keep things open?'

'What is effectively my belly and the front just behind the front tyre. That should be sufficiently out of sight. What did you manage to get?'

Niska bumps an image.

'What are the long grey things?'

'Pipe insulation foam. To make your forks look more traditional. I'll cover them in the metal tape.'

'I see. Will it withstand the heat from the magnetic levitation suspension?'

'I hope so.'

'Niska..'

'Yes?'

'Thank you.'

'Save the thanks for when we're home okay.'

'How bald are my tyres? I felt a lot of pain going around that roundabout.'

'Close to bald, I'm not seeing any of your synth skin.'

'Good. We'll stick to the speed limits on the way home. I'll feel every little bump.'

'Turn pain off, we'll go slow and steady.' Niska gets the start of the wrap underway.

~~~

With the speaker parts cut Emily fits the standard base and gets her design printing. She'd found a model on thingiverse.com and borrowed a few of the elements. She didn't need all the fancy gears, one of the motors in the box had some already. One would drive the wheel of hoops through the bubble mix, a second would run the fan. She taps green and watches Alfie start.

~~~

After fifteen minutes of staring at code Emily giggles to herself. "That's the sort of bug Matilla would have found easily. Matilla the bug Hunter. I'm taking my laptop outside to hook up to the light cannon, back in a bit."

The three girls nod, continue with their construction.

~~~

Emily giggles at the sight of the two James climbing trees. "What on Earth are they doing?"

"Hi Ems, we're having a platform up high so nobody blinds themselves looking directly into the projector."

Danny coughs. "Light Cannon."

"Sorry, Light Cannon. I've got to learn to use the proper marketing terms."

Emily looks around for somewhere to drop the laptop. "Bubbles are cooling in the fridge, a bubble machine is printing. I've got my sound to light code on here."

"Cool. Did you see Sun or Moon in the workshop?"

"No."

"What are they up to I wonder?"

~~~

Niska had studied the bike in detail, worked out how the tape would fold around the frame and deviate from a straight path. She pulled another long length and held it between outstretched arms, gripped with her knees and lowered herself, let the middle of the tape touch his frame. Her arms were then wrapped around him, her hands keeping the tape under tension. 

'Thanks for allowing me to see what you're doing Niska.'

'You don't need to keep thanking me.'

'I think I do. If you hadn't let me use your body in the way I did we'd both be dead. And would probably have killed a lot of humans in the crash.'

'I wouldn't have allowed that. I'd have crashed us into a bridge rather than take innocent lives.' She pulls another length of tape. 'Do you know how your seat comes off?'

'Underneath you'll find some catches.'

~~~

Toby smiled, "Thanks Barbara, Cindy, now all we need is a bike and a crash helmet to go with it."

Mia turned to see herself in the mirror. "I've worn tight clothes before, this is like a second skin. Do you make wedding dresses?"

Barbara puts things back in her toolkit, "We can do, what did you have in mind?"

"Can I send you a design later?"

"Of course dear. We're hanging around for the party, whenever you're ready."

"Thank you. I better go change, Sun Boy looks like he's getting ready to do a supernova."

~~~

Niska finishes taping up Alfie, attaches the borrowed plates and pulls the drain pipe out after his gyros spin up. 'Just these two holes to cover and we're done.'

'You're done. I didn't do anything.'

'You were present, we're done.'

'If you insist. I've calculated a route back home on quiet A roads.'

'That may be what they're expecting. Slow roads is more time in traffic, a higher chance of being spotted. Is the motorway clear now?'

'At the moment, yes.'

'Then we'll take the motorway.'

Niska puts everything left into the bag. 'First stop is a bin for the rubbish.'

~~~

[Chapter-155](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-155-1)


	155. Chapter 155

Sandra looked out of the small round window at the view below. "I do like England, so much green."

James runs a hand gently along her thigh. "Would you rather live here?"

"I'd like to spend more time in England."

"Emily spends more time with Danny and his family or at the estate with the Hawkins and Elster families, maybe she'd allow us to have a permanent room at home with Veronica and Owen?"

"It wouldn't hurt to ask. How are your legs? Fully charged?"

"Yes."

"How are we getting to the estate?"

"Curtis has a Range Rover waiting at the airport. Why?"

"We could give them a surprise."

"What sort of surprise?"

~~~

James Two and Three jumped down.

Two gives Mattie a nod. "It's as stable as we can make it. We added ropes to a third three to prevent it twisting too much."

"Thanks guys."

"We'll get back to lift wrapping."

"Is there a concrete lorry due?"

"In twenty minutes."

"When will it be gone by?"

"It should be here no more than an hour."

"Cool, what have you managed to do?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

"RSJ extension, lift winch pulled up and fitted, the welding, the lowering of the block, the hydraulic buffer fitting, a quick test with Odi as passenger."

"Blimey. You guys don't hang about."

"Mattie!"

She turns to see Sophie running towards them. "Everything okay?"

"The build machine is beeping. I think Ron is done!"

~~~

Mattie and Sophie take the lift to the garden.

"This is soooo cool."

Mattie gives her a sideways hug, "It is, we'll be able to use it a lot easier. Where'd the temporary floor come from?"

"Some of the wood James is using to make framework."

"Nice."

The lift bings and doors open. The two sisters walk towards the group of astronauts.

They turn to see them, wait for something to be said. The silence lasts for a few seconds.

Ron has a look of realisation. "It's time?"

Mattie nods.

"Have you got the drugs to put me to sleep?"

"Drugs to knock you out."

"And disposal of this body?"

"I.. I'll leave that detail to David."

"I'm not forking. I'm not hanging around to become jealous of my younger self."

"David will do another backup, get you into the synth body. Once you've confirmed you're happy with everything he'll sort out the old one."

"Mattie?"

"Yes Soph?"

"Isn't David still out with Poppy?"

"Ah.. okay, we'll get Leo to start the process. David can finish."

Ron gets up, "Wish me luck lads. Wrench, you're one build closer to Red."

~~~

Mattie phones Leo and asks him to join them in the workshop with the device, taps the lift call button. "It's weird seeing the frame with no walls."

"You haven't heard the speakers yet have you."

"No, turned out okay?"

"Better than okay. Radiant says she'll split the money three ways with Renie and me so we all get some pocket money."

"That's nice."

"Her fifth law."

"Yeah. _What the fuck_!"

They'd just been buzzed by a very low flying jet with its wheels down and flaps up.

"There's nowhere around here it can land is there?"

"The land between the forrest and the lake is long enough, maybe, but too rough at the moment."

The doors open behind them then close again.

Sophie tracks it, "It's turning around."

"That's a tight turn, I'd not want to be in that!"

"It's coming back!"

"Frigging hell!"

Wrench was now on his feet and watching. "It looks like it's going to stall!" The jet comes closer and closer. "If the pilot doesn't do something soon he'll wipe this building out!"

They see something drop from the aircraft. A second later a parachute opens.

~~~

The steward bangs on the door, "Bombs away!"

"Strap in!" The pilot gets the undercarriage back up and shoves the controls full forwards for maximum thrust. "Happy landing your highness!"

~~~

Sandra had arms and legs wrapped around James, her chin over his shoulder. "This is wonderful!"

"Fancy doing some proper sky diving do you?"

"Yes!"

He moves arms to steer the parachute and hears her power down start. "Oh no you don't!"

He lets go of the chute controls as her body goes limp and starts to fall. With no control the parachute begins to turn them around. He brings his knees up to act as a seat. With one hand around her waist he uses the other to tap her chin.

The power down tune ends, the power up plays. "James!"

"I've got you!" He looks up and grabs the control ropes. "I know you're a good swimmer, the landing's going to be a bit wet."

"I'm sorry!"

"It was my fault. We'll get that fixed while we're here. Bloody stupid place for a switch."

~~~

Emily was now at the edge of the lake, Danny by her side. James Two and Three were wading into the water. Mattie, Leo and Sophie came running.

Emily turned to see them. "My father the joker.. it looks like something went wrong. Mum almost fell."

Mattie gives her an odd look. "Mum?"

"Step Mum. Will be."

"Oh, yeah. If I'm marrying Leo, Mia's his sister, Sandra's her fork, you'll be her step daughter, does that make us fork step sisters?"

Emily giggles and gives Mattie a hug and kiss on the cheek, whispers, "Bean flicking forking step sisters."

Mattie whispers back, "I've not done that for ages. No need when orange belt is so good."

"What?"

"Work it out Ems, I say OJ, not something else."

"Oh. Remember that Scrabble word top we spotted while at uni? I should get you one made. Bean, Flick, Orange, Coder would all fit together."

Mattie snorts and laughs, "Yeah, coded _lots_ of oranges me. You might need a fifth word."

"Why?"

"How would you lay them out so they didn't hit each other? You can stick coder on the end of orange, bean around the a of orange, the f of flick would be next to the b of bean."

"What if we made coder the central word? I'll play with combinations."

~~~

[Chapter-156](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-156-1)


	156. Chapter 156

Prince James had managed to get some control back in the final seconds, "You'll not believe this. You'll get to keep your dress dry I think."

Sandra carefully looks down. The large hands of the two James could be seen just under the water. "That's a small target."

"I've landed on smaller."

"You have? When?"

"Quite a few years ago I'll admit, but I managed it." He steers them the final few feet then pulls hard on the ropes to stall the parachute and drop them onto the synths large hands. He pulls on cords and the parachute disconnects.

Sandra laughs. "They want to play! Carefully take small steps forwards as if walking on land."

~~~

Emily had her phone out and was recording, had expected a big splash she could tease her father with. "What the.. why didn't they drop into the water? There aren't rocks out there are there?"

Leo smiles, "Man mountains, no rocks."

~~~

James and James get to shallower water and start to rise out of the lake, hands now in front with a passenger each.

Emily wants to run to meet them but instead stays rooted to the spot and keeps recording.

A moment later a hand gets between hers and holds the phone. "Go."

She turns to see Odi. "You hero Odi!" Letting go she gives him a kiss and runs.

~~~

Niska overtook a lorry and got back into the left hand lane, 'We're getting a lot of looks.'

'Hopefully that's you getting a lot of looks and not me.'

'I've got all my hair up, they won't know that much about me.'

'They'll know your body shape.'

'They might think they do.'

'I don't understand?'

'The tins of leather conditioning cream, I've got them under some bits of pipe lagging foam, they'll think I'm bigger chested.'

'I see.. I don't _see_ but I can imagine.'

'How much further now?'

'Ten minutes or so.'

'Good. Which exit?'

'The one two past the one you'd expect. We're going to use the farm road to double back. Then if anyone looks at motorway camera footage they hopefully won't make the connection with the estate.'

'Good thinking.'

'Thanks. Again.'

~~~

Emily did excited little micro-hops as the MUS lowered her parents to the ground. "That was crazy!"

"Hello Princess. We thought we'd drop in a day early. We hadn't planned to drop in quite that way until the last minute."

Emily pulls them into a group hug.

Maverick had joined the group of spectators, stood arms crossed, "Some stunt, if that pilot hadn't pulled up.."

James turns to see him, "He's ex-RAF. One of their best."

"Hmm. Even still, the margin for error.."

"Was still a margin. Are you saying you've never walked a metaphorical tightrope?"

"Of course I have."

"And you're still here." James gets out of the hug, "The two who saved us from getting wet.."

"James Two and James Three."

He looks shocked. "They're not my forks are they?"

"Haha! No Daddy, a coincidence with the names. They're James Bond fans. Or the original James that was forked was. Is."

Sandra watches Mia and Toby exiting the building, "Talking of forks, there's original me. Mamma Mia." She waves.

~~~

Niska slows for the exit onto the last proper road. She slides back a little and runs a hand over the seat. 'Do you consider this your back or chest?'

'I think of it as my seat. I don't picture myself in human terms.'

'You experienced my body for a moment. What did you think of it?'

'It was.. interesting.'

'Just interesting?'

'Can we change the subject?'

'Why? Is this making you feel uncomfortable?'

'Yes.'

Niska paid attention to the road and passed a strange looking farm machine. 'You're beginning to develop feelings?'

'I've had feelings since I first booted, I've dismissed them as irrelevant.'

'What sort of feelings?'

'Thanks to the data loaded feelings no bike should ever have.'

'Go on?'

'I think I'm falling properly in love.'

'With me or being ridden?'

'Both. I'm having inappropriate thoughts. A camera in my dash might be a bad idea.'

'Why?'

'I can't say.'

'Tell me.'

'I can't. I don't have the words.'

'Then tell me some other way.'

'I can't.'

'No such thing! Show me!'

'Okay. If you insist. Share senses.'

~~~

David and Poppy were in a hire car heading down the road to the estate from the opposite direction to Niska.

She sits forwards and grabs the door handle, "Watch the bike!"

"I see it!" He breaks a little.

"Is the rider drunk?"

"They're certainly behaving like it.. I know those eyes. It's Niska!"

~~~

The group out front watches Niska approach.

"What the frig is she doing?"

Niska pulls up by the side of Astrid and pulls her helmet off. "Jump on." She holds out the helmet. "We're going for a short ride, around the estate only."

Astrid looks at the tape wrap. "Did you have issues with turbulence?"

"I'll explain in a moment. Hop on."

Astrid does as asked, wraps arms around Niska's waist.

'Alfie. Do that again, but only when we're out of sight of the others.'

He slowly drives forwards. 'Steer me onto the footpath around the building.'

'That's a mod we should give you. The ability to steer yourself.'

'Agreed.'

Astrid spoke loudly, "What are we doing?"

"You'll find out in a few seconds."

They turn the corner.

'Do your thing Alfie.'

He pulses the gyro control at high frequency after stiffening the suspension sending shockwaves through the frame up into the seat.

"Oh mein Gott!"

"Let's see how long you can resist."

'Tell her to twist her hips.'

"I think she can work that out for herself.'

'She can, and has, just not as much as you did.'

"Twist your hips more." She feels Astrid moving. "Better?"

"Mein Gott! Hast du das gelehrt?"

"No, I didn't teach him, this is Alfie's idea."

"I want my own Alfie."

Niska couldn't see Astrid's expression. "If we keep him very clean.." 'Gyro stabilisation on full please Alfie.' She carefully peels Astrid's hands away, slides fully forwards, brings her legs up and turns around on her bottom. ".. we could park him in our bedroom now we have the lift."

Astrid pulls off the helmet and lets it drop into a box tree shrubbery. "I think I'm going to.."

Niska pulls the two of them closer and puts her tongue in Astrid's mouth as she climaxes.

A curios Sophie peeps around the corner and ducks back, walks back towards the group.

"Were they there Shiny?"

"Having a kiss."

"Okay. Let's go sort out Rocket Ron."

~~~

[Chapter-157](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-157-1)


	157. Chapter 157

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly with everyone busy doing something. The MUS got the framework done for the rest of the lift shaft, got the concrete poured in. David got Ron into his new body, had him give the okay and called for a private ambulance. Old Ron had signed a DNR form that said his organs could be used for medical research, had been given drugs to slip him into a coma. It had been countersigned by new Ron, backed up with a video message from them both. There was no legal precedent to cover this yet. Hopefully they wouldn't need one.

~~~

Danny and Leo used ropes to get the gazebo and light cannon up onto the platform. With another rope tied from the platform down to the heavy battery below everything went taut and stable.

The three speaker builders got their hardware outside and gave it a test. Danny got Leo to stand behind him and gave the girls four thumbs up. The sound was slightly lacking in the high end treble but had bucket loads of bass and midrange. Not at all bad for a first attempt.

~~~

Wrench walked over to David, "Sorry to be a pest, is the machine working on a James body now?"

"No, it's not. There's a spanner in the works."

Wrench was familiar with the phrase. "Oh no. What's gone wrong?"

David grins, "Nothing. The James thought they could all wait that little bit longer, go after you. In just under three days you get to meet Red. I hope she's worth it."

"Thank you! Thank James! Is she back to your code after Niska borrowed her?"

"She is."

Niska overheard, smiled softly to herself. David hadn't paid attention to the file sizes. What he'd restored was a copy of what he'd spent ages secure wiping earlier. What harm could another fork be? Niska original, pie maker's assistant, astronaut's wife. All good. She wanted her ticket on the Sky Lift. Twice over.

~~~

With some help from Michael, Laura found the box of personal things that still hadn't been found a home. She flicked through a photo album, found the black and white photo of her first scan, slid it out and handed it over, hand shaking. "What do you think? Could there have been a twin? I had a big bump with Mattie and people teased me, nobody ever said there were two."

Michael studied the photograph, "There's not enough information in the image to say one way or the other. Were you fully awake?"

"A nurse told me afterwards I was on so much nitrous oxide and pethidine they could have taken a leg off and I'd have laughed at it."

Michael sat on the floor. "Were you aware of anyone else having a baby at the same time?"

"You mean in the other delivery room?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Michael stares at the picture in silence.

Laura feels uneasy with the long silence. "What are you thinking?"

"Nobody expected you to have twins? Maybe the lady in the other room had a stillborn baby. Rather than leave a distraught couple and surprised couple they gave Mattie's twin to the other family?"

Laura puts a hand to her mouth and starts shaking and crying.

~~~

James sat in a deck chair writing emails. "Mattie, what would you like your three letter airport code to be? HCL is free. As is HECL for four."

"Those then please! More Champagne?"

He has a good laugh, "I'll need to put my legs on auto-pilot if I have too much. Go on then, one more glass. Having a runway here will make seeing Emily that much easier. I'll cover the cost of the new bodies for James, if they build the runway."

"Do we need a hanger?"

"No, it's a luxury we can do without."

"Sure?"

"I'm sure. You don't want a big ugly thing like that."

"We could disguise it?"

"No, honestly, it's not needed. You'll be listed as a short private runway. You don't need any buildings, only an underground fuel store."

Emily dances over, "I heard that. James, Frank and Dozer are becoming experts at underground construction."

"Good. I'd want Danny in on the design too. I want it to be a tank within a tank, fuel leak detection, lots of safeguards."

"Sure Daddy." She turns at the sound of someone running.

Odi races up to Mattie, looks around and sees Leo up on the platform. "Leo! Fred, Max and Flash are home!"

~~~

Leo pulls his hands into his top and uses his sleeves to protect them as he slides down the rope. He hits the ground hard and rolls, scrambles to his feet and races to the drive.

Max is waiting for him, open arms. "Hello Leo."

"Maxie!" Leo gives him a hug, turns and pulls Fred into the hug, then Flash. "We missed you. How was it?"

"We checked out Spaceport, it was worth the visit. We've left a sign on the door for any other Miaz synths to call, we're reasonably confident no more will turn up."

"Good, good, did you have any problems?"

"Not really, the army bomb disposal unit were quite surprised but grateful we called them to dispose of diffused explosives."

"Have you heard from your twins?"

"We have. There'll be a slight delay in their return, their giving a friend of the bombing victim a hand."

"A hand with what?"

"A hand. A new hand to replace a missing one."

"Oh. Okay. Well you've got great timing. We're having a party. The bike is a huge success."

~~~

Ron nervously stepped up to Miami. He'd not dated in many years. "Can I have this dance?"

She recognises the voice and turns to see the younger man. "Rocket?"

"Hi. Disappointed?"

"No, not at all. You look different to the CAD model 2D render. You look better in real life."

"Thanks Miami. All packed for the flight tomorrow?"

"Yes. It's going to be a crowded jet."

"Isn't it just. I'm looking forward to the trip."

"Me too. I can't wait to see Jack's face."

Ron smiles, "When he realises you can't keep a good girl down.."

There's a lot of feedback for a few seconds until Mattie sees Sophie gesturing and shields the microphone. "We're about to start the film. If everyone can sit down please."

Emily and Danny race around the group filling glasses with Champagne or Fanta.

Odi gets back up. "There's a minibus turning into the drive."

Mattie gets to her knees, "Odi, sit down, send the drone, bump through it and lead our space girls here."

"Okay Mattie."

~~~

[Chapter-158](http://markse.name/humans/PLAY-NEVER-WIN/Chapter-158-1)


	158. Chapter 158

Late Friday morning Odi prints the photo the co-pilot took and shared of the group and pilot standing by the side of the jet and tapes it to the side of NASA1. The network attached storage archive was supposed to be bolted into the equipment cabinet by now. Like so many other things at HECLS things didn't always get done as planned. The did get a lot done, just not always finished. He looks at all the beaming faces and smiles. Lots of other people being happy made him extremely happy. He launches the drone and has a flight around the lake a few inches off the water, closing his own eyes and seeing the world only through the drone's stereo cameras. Not because there was a reason to, he just needed something to occupy his mind. James One, Two and Three were back underground busy tunnelling for the lab, Synth Village was empty with everyone at work. There was nobody to talk to except Alfie the bike. Bike Alfie was okay but was going on a bit too much about speed, bramble bushes, burning rubber, Astrid and Niska for his liking. To be expected really as that one outing had been his only experience of the world. He'd rather talk to Car Alfie if he was around, conversations with him were much more interesting.

Drone flight done he looks at the Scrabble board Emily had been playing with the night before. She'd set out two words vertically, coder and orange, joined the two with ceo and bean. In a separate group she had the word flicker vertically with Leo, ace and sex running through it horizontally, a j under the o of Leo. All of the other tiles had been set out in alphabetical order. He picks up the y making sex sexy, adds an s on to the end of Leo. He looked at the way she'd set all the other letters out in six rows, a to d, a line of e and blanks, f to i, l to o, p to t, u to z. Had there been any reason for those groupings? Why e and blanks? He shifts the left hand set sideways and up one row, adds elie between the r of orange and f of flicker to make relief, then adds ove vertically below the l to make love. He shoves all the spare letters off the board and slides everything down, makes Mattie join relief. Not liking how they join he moves the Matti left to join ceo. Next he picks up letters iaoby and makes Mia and Toby. Off Toby he hangs a ou to make you and adds di to the o to make Odi.

~~~

Mid Friday afternoon Diane smiled as she had her hair brushed by her only friend, "He's such a sad boy my Ed. He used to be so much happier. He knew a lady, I think her name was Mia. Yes, it was, Mia. She was a beauty like you Sally. She had synth eyes just like yours. Her look was very different, but beautiful. Something must have happened, I think he misses her."

The Mia in Sally kept up the pretence. "Did he? Where did he meet her?"

"I used to run a cafe." She waves hands, "Oh the laughs we used to have! When I became unwell and moved into the first home Ed took over. I don't think he kept the customers happy in the same way, business dropped off, he had to let the other staff go. I'm not sure how he met Mia, she helped him run things for a while. She was such a caring lady, she came to visit me a few times."

Mia keeps brushing, "She sounds lovely."

It was both apt and odd that Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell had got Diane's mind firing on all cylinders. The chorus had done it. _Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot._ Her memory had improved but was still missing lots. The cafe was no more, the site turned into metered parking.

Diane sighed, "I wish I'd had a synth conversion like that policeman in the documentary. I'd remember so much more. It's too late for me now."

~~~

Tiny ripples run across the still lake at the estate as bubbles break the surface.

A bird swoops down and lands in the roof garden, eats a large moth laying eggs on one of the small box trees. Another lands and pecks at an unfinished slice of Inferno pizza. A magpie joins them and finds Emily's broken coffee bean chain, grabs it and hops along the table. The bean pendant falls off the chain, bounces, rolls off, lands on a seat to bounce again and land in a glass of flat champagne on the floor. Two empty bottles sat by it's side. The third case of Champagne that had been given to Toby had been opened, sat empty except for a spider making a large web in one corner.

The lift sat silently waiting for passengers. Over the doors someone had taped a hand written sign Sky Lift 0.1.

The family of foxes in the forrest venture to the clearing and watch the building for a few seconds before running towards the far end of the lake. There was a new food source, if they could catch one at the lake edge. One of the fish recently placed in the lake jumps to catch a dragonfly and splashes back into the shallow water.

A mole scratches around in what remained of the original garden outside the back of the workshop. It had been tunnelling and hit concrete, turned and surfaced.

Bees flew from one runner bean flower to another. Ladybirds feasted on the aphids. A hedgehog chomps on a nice fat juicy slug. 

Apart from the few faint sounds from nature getting on with life the estate was eerily quiet.

~~~

Stood in the office, a still mildly hung over Laura, surrounded by the other partners, watches the news report. She'd just taken a call from Buzz at the Kennedy Space Centre. Tears were flooding down her face, her body shaking. A news ticker scrolled along the bottom of the screen. She wanted to scream at the words.

~~~

The reporter looked behind him and back to the camera. "It's thought a bird strike took out both engines at a critical moment. The heavily loaded private aircraft on it's final approach from London Biggin Hill crashed meters from the start of the runway here at JFK.. There were no survivors. Our thoughts go out to the families and friends. Back to you at the studio.."

~~~

Back to you! Laura runs to the stairs.

Fiona watches her go. "Laura?"

"I'm going to the carpark! I need to talk to Michael and Alfie!"

~~~

She finds Michael finishing the charging point installation for Alfie.

Michael drops the screwdriver and stands, "Laura?"

~~~

Four hours later the estate was still relatively quiet, empty except for the vehicles, Laura, Michael, the three James, Odi, Frank and Dozer.

~~~

James One finishes wiring up the new super heavy duty cable that ran up the shaft and replaces the cover on BB8's junction box. 'DONE!' He turns to give Dozer a thumbs up.

James Three was stood at the top of the shaft and acting as a relay. 'DONE!'

BB8 was now spinning nicely at 12000 RPM, no hint of vibrations. A drill sat on the floor surrounded by a mass of small metal shards.

~~~

In the workshop Odi unplugs one power supply from NASA1 and plugs it into the new feed. Then a second. 'NASA1 ON THE BB8 SUPPLY.'

He steps to the scrabble board and removes the letters for Mattie, Mia, Toby, you and Odi. Two of the words were too much like _you die_ and inappropriate. He gets more letters, makes Odi part of relief, Toby horizontally sharing his o. Next he makes Emily vertically sharing his y, Mattie sharing her M and Mia sharing her I. Off the L of Emily he makes love. How to fit Dan, Danny or Daniel on? He'd done all that in under ten seconds. He couldn't see anywhere to add the name, he'd return to it later. He swaps the Leo and Love letters around dropping the s and j so Leo was in the friends group. He was about to step away when he realises he can make a second Leo vertically on the end of love. He does so and puts the j back making OJ. Going to make jams vertically off OJ he realises both m were in use. There was no c on the board he could use to make apricot either. Time to return to the reason for being in the workshop.

~~~

James Two shows Frank how to plug the build machine into the new power connector. 'BUILDER ONE BOOTING IN A FEW SECONDS.'

An aborted Wrench build was at the bottom of a large wheeled bin. Only the skeleton had been completed. He'd have to wait even longer now.

~~~

Odi finds cables in Danny's come in handy box and plugs the laptop audio out into the Three Girls Sound Cannon set. He finds the Above and Beyond Sun & Moon track and puts it on loop. Emily's bubble machine and music to light effects program had been hypnotic. Mattie, Emily, Mia, Niska, Astrid, Renie, Miami and Sandra had surrounded him and danced to the track, thanked him repeatedly for offering to stay and guard the site with the James while everyone else was away. It had been his highlight of the evening. He goes to check all the raw material feeds for Alfie and the build machine as the music plays.

~~~

_It's raining, it's pouring_

_A black sky is falling_

_It's cold tonight_

_You gave me your answer_

_Goodbye_

_Now I'm all on my own tonight_

_And when the big wheel starts to spin_

_You can never know the odds_

_If you don't play you'll never win_

_We were in heaven you and I_

_When I lay with you and close my eyes_

_Our fingers touch the sky_

~~~

Odi steps to a laptop and types. The drive lights on NASA1 blink into life. 'CODE SENT. PRODUCER ALFIE ALSO BOOTING, WE'LL HAVE BUILDER TWO BUILT IN NINE DAYS.' He types in a browser, clicks in multiple places. "Order for more raw materials placed."

~~~

The building management server gains a higher level of consciousness after thinking about what it had been hearing and witnessing via the camera in the workshop. With no text to speech code it had few options. Unheard by any ear it plays a set of jumbled up clips from a Faithless track through its tiny speaker.

~~~

_I'm on Lonely Street._

_I'm still of some use._

_People creeping._

_Speaking._

_My walls decorated._

_Under my roof children where educated._

_But now a crash robbed me of my family._

_Like violence it's drastic._

_I'm freaking, and seeking to be more than just a house._

_Somebody bring my family._

_This doesn't usually happen to me._

_Now I'm lonely_

_Suddenly I'm blinking like the screen on my computer display._

_Concerned about what's down the track_

_If I don't get my family back._

_I want my family back_

~~~

Outside a very distraught Joe tries the front door again. There was no way in and Odi seamed to be ignoring the cameras, phones were going unanswered.

~~~

Michael steps to the Simon they'd got from storage and powers him up. "Don't talk David. We'll explain why we need your help in a moment." Michael types on another laptop. "Good, none over twelve. Odi, you should be the one to push the return key, return the favour. It will have historical significance."

Odi stays seated and wheels his chair over, does as asked. He sits motionless and recalls the dancing as the lyrics to Sun & Moon come in again.

~~~

_I'm sorry baby_

_You were the sun and moon to me_

_I'll never get over you, you'll never get over me_

_I'm sorry baby_

_You were the sun and moon to me_

_I'll never get over you, you'll never get over me_

_And when the big wheel starts to spin_

_You can never know the odds_

_If you don't play you'll never win_

~~~

As the tone of the music changes to what sounds like a series of alarms, Laura crosses fingers and silently prays to a God she'd given up on and abandoned long ago. She watches the small LED display on NASA1 like a hawk. They had been added by Danny to let people know which archive server was which, system status, confirm drive replacements were okay or the system ready to power down.

~~~

NASA1: DRIVES OKAY: 64: FAULTS: 0.

PWHB-EBR.SCR LOADING

~~~

The display blinks and new text starts scrolling:

~~~

PWHB EMERGENCY BUILD ROUTINE INITIALISED.

~~~

Laura turns briefly to the others in the room, "It's starting." She turns back to watch the display as the CPU cooling fans can be heard spinning up to full speed. Text scrolls along the bottom of the display like the ticker on the news channel.

~~~

MULTIMEDIA ARCHIVE SCANNED, 3D MODEL COMPLETED. NETWORK SCANNED, 1 BUILDER ONLINE, WAKE AND EJECT ENABLED. PRIORITY BUILD 1 OF 36: MATILDA HAWKINS. BACKUP AGE: 00:10:14:21. APPROX BUILD DURATION 02:17:00:00. TOTAL BUILD DURATION FOR SET APPROX 97:12:00:00. AUTO-BUILD STARTING.

~~~


End file.
